How to Identify aBarn Swallow
Hirundo rustica · 5.9–7.5 in (15–19 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Steel-blue above, cinnamon-buff below with a rusty-red forehead and throat, and long forked tail streamers.
Female
Similar but usually paler below with shorter tail streamers.
Male photo: Andreas Trepte / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Second photo: Prasan Shrestha / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Field marks
- Deeply forked tail with white spots
- Rusty throat and forehead
- Glossy blue upperparts
- Buoyant, swooping low flight
Similar species
What it sounds like
A cheerful liquid twittering, often ending in a dry mechanical rattle.
Behaviour that gives it away
Feeds low over fields and water, and builds a mud cup on beams and ledges inside barns and under bridges.
Habitat & range
Open country, farms, and fields near water almost everywhere; nests in barns and under bridges.
When you'll see it
A summer visitor that arrives to breed in North America.
What it eats
Flying insects caught on the wing, often just above the ground or water.
Did you know?
One of the most widespread birds on Earth, nesting on every continent except Antarctica.
Spot one yourself?
Point your camera at any bird and Aviarist identifies it in seconds — then logs it to your life list.
Get Aviarist on Google Play
More backyard birds
Other apps we make
