Barn Swallow Identification

The Barn Swallow is a bit larger than the Common House Martin.

It has a dark blue head with metallic reflections, a brick-colored forehead and throat, and a broad dark blue band around the neck.

The upper body is dark blue with metallic reflections.

The underparts are white.

Its tail is deeply forked, bordered by two long streamers.

Its song is a noisy, hurried, and creaky twitter with rapid "fuit" "tsiviit" sounds, sometimes ending with a trill. "trrrrriitt"

The Barn Swallow is very sociable during migration, at wintering sites, or during breeding if it chooses to nest in a colony.

On fine days, swallows can be seen hunting in flight.

A swallow's flight speed is 60 km/h, but when hunting, it can reach 100 km/h!

Its forked tail gives it great agility in flight.

The breeding season of the Barn Swallow extends from April to September.

It produces 1 to 3 broods per year of 4 to 6 white eggs speckled with brown.

It nests inside rural buildings, along beams in barns or old sheds, and sometimes in chimneys.

Like the Common House Martin, the Barn Swallow is a "builder", it entirely constructs its nest: a half-cup of mud, grass, and saliva.

Its nest is more open than the Common House Martin's nest, with the risk of the chicks being expelled by competitors.

The Barn Swallow eats only flying insects (60% flies).

It drinks in flight, skimming the water's surface with its mouth.

Before and during migration, it finds plenty of food in reed beds.

During the breeding season, it is common in rural areas: it frequents countryside, meadows, and villages.

It is a long-distance migrant species. It travels about 6000 km to reach its wintering grounds.

It spends the winter in Africa, where it can continue to feed on insects.

In the spring, they return to nest in Europe.

Swallow populations are declining due to the use of pesticides which reduce their food sources and the loss of nesting sites such as open barns.