100-451: The banded martin or banded sand martin ( Neophedina cincta ) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae that is endemic to Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Neophedina . The banded martin was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected from
200-559: A mutualist relationship with ospreys . Barn swallows will build their nest below an osprey nest, receiving protection from other birds of prey that are repelled by the exclusively fish-eating ospreys. The ospreys are alerted to the presence of these predators by the alarm calls of the swallows. Barn swallows will normally raise two broods, with the original nest being reused for the second brood and being repaired and reused in subsequent years. The female lays two to seven, but typically four or five, reddish-spotted white eggs. The clutch size
300-413: A rufous forehead, chin and throat, which are separated from the off-white underparts by a broad dark blue breast band. The outer tail feathers are elongated, giving the distinctive deeply forked "swallow tail". There is a line of white spots across the outer end of the upper tail. The female is similar in appearance to the male, but the tail streamers are shorter, the blue of the upperparts and breast band
400-430: A 1988 study on house martins . Swallows are excellent flyers and use these skills to feed and attract mates. Some species, such as the mangrove swallow , are territorial , whereas others are not and simply defend their nesting sites. In general, the male selects a nest site, and then attracts a female using song and flight and (dependent on the species) guards his territory. The size of the territory varies depending on
500-596: A bird that had been ringed by James Masefield at a nest in Staffordshire, was found in Natal. As would be expected for a long-distance migrant, this bird has occurred as a vagrant to such distant areas as Hawaii, Bermuda , Greenland, Tristan da Cunha , the Falkland Islands , and even Antarctica. The barn swallow is similar in its habits to other aerial insectivores , including other swallow species and
600-566: A clutch will get depends on the size of the clutch, with larger clutches getting more food on average. The timing of a clutch also determines the food given; later broods get food that is smaller in size compared to earlier broods. This is because larger insects are too far away from the nest to be profitable in terms of energy expenditure. Isotope studies have shown that wintering populations may utilise different feeding habitats, with British breeders feeding mostly over grassland, whereas Swiss birds utilised woodland more. Another study showed that
700-498: A cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight. This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by humans; this acceptance was reinforced in the past by superstitions regarding the bird and its nest. There are frequent cultural references to the barn swallow in literary and religious works due to both its living in close proximity to humans and its annual migration. The barn swallow
800-546: A distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used as the common name for Hirundo rustica in the UK and Ireland . Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 21 genera , with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants ; by contrast,
900-422: A few days to begin to sprout, and the chicks are brooded by the parents until they are able to thermoregulate . On the whole, they develop slowly compared to other passerine birds. The parents do not usually feed the chicks individual insects, but instead feed a bolus of food comprising 10–100 insects. Regardless of whether the species has males that incubate or brood the chicks, the males of all hirundines help feed
1000-512: A genetically stronger individual which will produce offspring with enhanced vitality. Males in northern Europe have longer tails than those further south, whereas in Spain the male's tail streamers are only 5% longer than the female's; in Finland, the difference is 20%. In Denmark, the average male tail length increased by 9% between 1984 and 2004, but it is possible that climatic changes may lead in
1100-1031: A less vivid gape. The barn swallow has been recorded as hybridising with the cliff swallow ( Petrochelidon pyrrhonota ) and the cave swallow ( P. fulva ) in North America, and the house martin ( Delichon urbicum ) in Eurasia, the cross with the latter being one of the most common passerine hybrids. Barn swallows (and other small passerines ) often have characteristic feather holes on their wing and tail feathers. These holes were suggested as being caused by avian lice such as Machaerilaemus malleus and Myrsidea rustica , although other studies suggest that they are mainly caused by species of Brueelia . Several other species of lice have been described from barn swallow hosts, including Brueelia domestica and Philopterus microsomaticus . The avian lice prefer to feed on white tail spots, and they are generally found more numerously on short-tailed males, indicating
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#17327824689231200-420: A mean body mass of 9.4 g (0.33 oz) while the purple martin and southern martin , which both weigh in excess of 50 g (1.8 oz) on average, rival one another as the heaviest swallows. The wings are long, pointed, and have nine primary feathers. The tail has 12 feathers and may be deeply forked, somewhat indented, or square-ended. A long tail increases maneuverability, and may also function as
1300-405: A moral lesson about greed and altruism through the mending of a swallow's broken leg. During the 19th century, Jean Desbouvrie attempted to tame swallows and train them for use as messenger birds, as an alternative to war pigeons . The swallows would have a light load of course, as a laden swallow could only travel about half as far as an unladen swallow in the same trip. He succeeded in curbing
1400-606: A number of additional or alternative forms have been proposed, including saturata by Robert Ridgway in 1883, kamtschatica by Benedykt Dybowski in 1883, ambigua by Erwin Stresemann and mandschurica by Wilhelm Meise in 1934. Given the uncertainties over the validity of these forms, this article follows the treatment of Turner and Rose. The short wings, red belly and incomplete breast band of H. r. tytleri are also found in H. r. erythrogaster , and DNA analyses show that barn swallows from North America colonised
1500-482: A number of species occasionally consume fruits and other plant matter. Species in Africa have been recorded eating the seeds of Acacia trees, and these are even fed to the young of the greater striped swallow . The swallows generally forage for prey on the wing, but they on occasion snap prey off branches or on the ground. The flight may be fast and involve a rapid succession of turns and banks when actively chasing fast-moving prey; less agile prey may be caught with
1600-586: A pair to build a nest from mud, hair, and other materials, old nests are highly prized. This species breeds across the Northern Hemisphere from sea level to 2,700 m (8,900 ft), but to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the Caucasus and North America, and it is absent only from deserts and the cold northernmost parts of the continents. Over much of its range, it avoids towns, and in Europe
1700-401: A protection from predators, and the arrival of roosting birds is synchronised in order to overwhelm predators like African hobbies . The barn swallow has been recorded as breeding in the more temperate parts of its winter range, such as the mountains of Thailand and in central Argentina. Migration of barn swallows between Britain and South Africa was first established on 23 December 1912 when
1800-532: A real evolutionary separation. In the New World, "martin" is reserved for members of the genus Progne . (These two systems are responsible for the same species being called sand martin in the Old World and bank swallow in the New World.) The family Hirundinidae was introduced (as Hirundia) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. The Hirundinidae are morphologically unique within
1900-407: A sexual adornment, since the tail is frequently longer in males. In barn swallows, the tail of the male is 18% longer than those of the female, and females select mates on the basis of tail length. Their legs are short, and their feet are adapted for perching rather than walking, as the front toes are partially joined at the base. Swallows are capable of walking and even running, but they do so with
2000-541: A sharp siflitt for predators like cats and a flitt-flitt for birds of prey like the hobby . This species is fairly quiet on the wintering grounds. The distinctive combination of a red face and blue breast band renders the adult barn swallow easy to distinguish from the African Hirundo species and from the welcome swallow ( Hirundo neoxena ) with which its range overlaps in Australasia . In Africa
2100-400: A shuffling, waddling gait. The leg muscles of the river martins ( Pseudochelidon ) are stronger and more robust than those of other swallows. The river martins have other characteristics that separate them from the other swallows. The structure of the syrinx is substantially different between the two subfamilies; and in most swallows, the bill, legs, and feet are dark brown or black, but in
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#17327824689232200-459: A single population breeding in Denmark actually wintered in two separate areas. The barn swallow drinks by skimming low over lakes or rivers and scooping up water with its open mouth. This bird bathes in a similar fashion, dipping into the water for an instant while in flight. Swallows gather in communal roosts after breeding, sometimes thousands strong. Reed beds are regularly favoured, with
2300-408: A slower, more leisurely flight that includes flying in circles and bursts of flapping mixed with gliding. Where several species of swallows feed together, they separate into different niches based on height off the ground, some species feeding closer to the ground and others feeding at higher levels. Similar separation occurs where feeding overlaps with swifts . Niche separation may also occur with
2400-410: A state of torpor , or even that they withdrew for the winter under water. Aristotle ascribed hibernation not only to swallows, but also to storks and kites . Hibernation of swallows was considered a possibility even by as acute an observer as Rev. Gilbert White , in his The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789, based on decades of observations). This idea may have been supported by
2500-523: A symbol of spring or summer. The proverb about the necessity for more than one piece of evidence goes back at least to Aristotle 's Nicomachean Ethics : "For as one swallow or one day does not make a spring, so one day or a short time does not make a fortunate or happy man." The barn swallow symbolises the coming of spring and thus love in the Pervigilium Veneris , a late Latin poem. In his poem " The Waste Land ", T. S. Eliot quoted
2600-434: A while after the breeding season. If a human being gets too close to their territory, swallows attack them within the perimeter of the nest. Colonial species may mob predators and humans that are too close to the colony. For the most part, swallows are insectivorous, taking flying insects on the wing. Across the whole family, a wide range of insects is taken from most insect groups, but the composition of any one prey type in
2700-446: A white stripe above the eye. Its underparts are white, as are the underwing coverts, and it has a dark brown breast band, and sometimes a thin dark line across the vent. Sexes are similar, but the young have a paler breast band and golden tips to the upper part feathers. It is easily distinguished from the smaller sand martin by its square tail and white on the underwings, and from the brown-throated sand martin by its white throat. It
2800-692: Is Miochelidon eschata from the Early Miocene of Siberia ; it is the only record of Hirundinidae from the Miocene . It is likely a basal member of the family. The Hirundinidae have an evolutionarily conservative body shape, which is similar across the clade , but is unlike that of other passerines . Swallows have adapted to hunting insects on the wing by developing a slender, streamlined body and long, pointed wings, which allow great maneuverability and endurance, as well as frequent periods of gliding. Their body shapes allow for very efficient flight ;
2900-486: Is 70–90%. Average mortality is 70–80% in the first year and 40–70% for the adult. Although the record age is more than 11 years, most survive less than four years. Barn swallow nestlings have prominent red gapes, a feature shown to induce feeding by parent birds. An experiment in manipulating brood size and immune system showed the vividness of the gape was positively correlated with T-cell–mediated immunocompetence, and that larger brood size and injection with an antigen led to
3000-478: Is common, making this species genetically polygamous , despite being socially monogamous . Males guard females actively to avoid being cuckolded . Males may use deceptive alarm calls to disrupt extrapair copulation attempts toward their mates. As its name implies, the barn swallow typically nests inside accessible buildings such as barns and stables, or under bridges and wharves. Before man-made sites became common, it nested on cliff faces or in caves, but this
3100-542: Is described as being particularly attracted to burnt or harvested sugarcane fields and the waste from the cane. In the absence of suitable roost sites, they may sometimes roost on wires where they are more exposed to predators. Individual birds tend to return to the same wintering locality each year and congregate from a large area to roost in reed beds. These roosts can be extremely large; one in Nigeria had an estimated 1.5 million birds. These roosts are thought to be
Banded martin - Misplaced Pages Continue
3200-517: Is in Virgil 's Georgics (29 BC), " Ante garrula quam tignis nidum suspendat hirundo " (Before the twittering swallow hangs its nest from the rafters). Many cattle farmers believed that swallows spread Salmonella infections; however, a study in Sweden showed no evidence of the birds being reservoirs of the bacteria. Many literary references are based on the barn swallow's northward migration as
3300-428: Is influenced by latitude, with clutch sizes of northern populations being higher on average than southern populations. The eggs are 20 mm × 14 mm ( 3 ⁄ 4 in × 1 ⁄ 2 in) in size, and weigh 1.9 grams (29 grains), of which 5% is shell. In Europe, the female does almost all the incubation , but in North America the male may incubate up to 25% of the time. The incubation period
3400-425: Is less glossy, and the underparts paler. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts. It also lacks the long tail streamers of the adult. Although both sexes sing, female song was only recently described. (See below for details about song.) Calls include witt or witt-witt and a loud splee-plink when excited or trying to chase intruders away from the nest. The alarm calls include
3500-433: Is less gregarious than those species, and is typically seen in pairs or small flocks. The subspecies differ in size and in the plumage tones of the upper parts or breast band. The nominate R. c. cincta of southern Africa is the palest form. The banded martin is found in open habitats such as farmland, grassland and savannah, usually near water. It breeds across Africa from Cameroon and Zaire to Ethiopia south to
3600-466: Is normally 14–19 days, with another 18–23 days before the altricial chicks fledge. The fledged young stay with, and are fed by, the parents for about a week after leaving the nest. Occasionally, first-year birds from the first brood will assist in feeding the second brood. Compared to those from early broods, juvenile barn swallows from late broods have been found to migrate at a younger age, fuel less efficiently during migration and have lower return rates
3700-446: Is now rare. The neat cup-shaped nest is placed on a beam or against a suitable vertical projection. It is constructed by both sexes, although more often by the female, with mud pellets collected in their beaks and lined with grasses, feathers, algae or other soft materials. The nest building ability of the male is also sexually selected; females will lay more eggs and at an earlier date with males who are better at nest construction, with
3800-788: Is presumed to be the reason behind the decline of the critically endangered white-eyed river martin , a species that is only known from a few specimens collected in Thailand . The species presumably breeds in riverbanks, a much diminished habitat in Southeast Asia. As the species has not been reliably seen since 1980, it may already be extinct. Two insular species, the Bahama swallow and golden swallow , have declined due to forest loss and also competition with introduced species such as starlings and sparrows, which compete with these swallows for nesting sites. The golden swallow formerly bred on
3900-572: Is replaced in urban areas by the house martin . However, in Honshū , Japan, the barn swallow is a more urban bird, with the red-rumped swallow ( Cecropis daurica ) replacing it as the rural species. In winter, the barn swallow is cosmopolitan in its choice of habitat, avoiding only dense forests and deserts. It is most common in open, low vegetation habitats, such as savanna and ranch land, and in Venezuela, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago it
4000-584: Is the Latin word for "swallow"; rusticus means "of the country". This species is the only one of that genus to have a range extending into the Americas, with the majority of Hirundo species being native to Africa. This genus of blue-backed swallows is sometimes called the "barn swallows". The Oxford English Dictionary dates the English common name "barn swallow" to 1851, though an earlier instance of
4100-460: Is the national bird of Austria and Estonia . The adult male barn swallow of the nominate subspecies H. r. rustica is 17–19 cm ( 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 – 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) long including 2–7 cm (1–3 in) of elongated outer tail feathers. It has a wingspan of 32–34.5 cm ( 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 – 13 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) and weighs 16–22 g ( 9 ⁄ 16 – 3 ⁄ 4 oz). It has steel blue upperparts and
Banded martin - Misplaced Pages Continue
4200-510: Is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. In Anglophone Europe, it is just called the swallow ; in northern Europe, it is the only member of family Hirundinidae called a "swallow" rather than a " martin ". There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across
4300-567: Is variable: in the southern part of the range, the breeding season usually is from February or March to early to mid September, although some late second and third broods finish in October. In the northern part of the range, it usually starts late May to early June and ends the same time as the breeding season of the southernmost birds. Both sexes defend the nest, but the male is particularly aggressive and territorial. Once established, pairs stay together to breed for life, but extra-pair copulation
4400-636: The Baikal region of Siberia, a dispersal direction opposite to that for most changes in distribution between North America and Eurasia. The preferred habitat of the barn swallow is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows and farmland, preferably with nearby water. This swallow avoids heavily wooded or precipitous areas and densely built-up locations. The presence of accessible open structures such as barns, stables, or culverts to provide nesting sites, and exposed locations such as wires, roof ridges or bare branches for perching, are also important in
4500-573: The Cape of Good Hope . The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined
4600-979: The Indian Ocean , and a number of migratory species are common vagrants to other isolated islands and even to some sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctica. Many species have enormous worldwide ranges, particularly the barn swallow, which breeds over most of the Northern Hemisphere and winters over most of the Southern Hemisphere. The family uses a wide range of habitats. They are dependent on flying insects, and as these are common over waterways and lakes, they frequently feed over these, but they can be found in any open habitat, including grasslands, open woodland, savanna, marshes, mangroves, and scrubland, from sea level to high alpine areas. Many species inhabit human-altered landscapes, including agricultural land and even urban areas. Land-use changes have also caused some species to expand their range, most impressively
4700-1209: The International Ornithological Committee (IOC). Pseudochelidon – river martins (2 species) Psalidoprocne – saw-wings (5 species) Ptyonoprogne – crag martins (5 species) Hirundo – swallows (16 species) Atronanus – forest swallow Delichon – house martins (4 species) Petrochelidon – includes cliff swallows (10 species) Cecropis – swallows (9 species) Pseudhirundo – grey-rumped swallow Cheramoeca – white-backed swallow Phedina – Mascarene martin Neophedina – banded martin Phedinopsis – Brazza's martin Riparia – martins (6 species) Tachycineta – swallows (9 species) Progne – martins (9 species) Stelgidopteryx – rough-winged swallows (2 species) Atticora – swallows (3 species) Pygochelidon – swallows (2 species) Alopochelidon – tawny-headed swallow Orochelidon – swallows (3 species) The oldest known fossil swallow
4800-690: The binomial name Hirundo cincta in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées . The banded martin was formerly placed in the genus Riparia . A genetic study found that it belonged to a different clade to other members of the genus, and it was moved to the genus Neophedina that had been introduced in 1922 by the South African zoologist Austin Roberts . The specific epithet cincta is from Latin cinctus meaning "banded". Five subspecies are recognised: The 15–17 cm (5.9–6.7 in) long banded martin has earth-brown upper parts, except for
4900-496: The collocation in an English-language context is in Gilbert White's popular book The Natural History of Selborne , originally published in 1789: The swallow, though called the chimney-swallow, by no means builds altogether in chimnies [ sic ], but often within barns and out-houses against the rafters ... In Sweden she builds in barns, and is called ladusvala , the barn-swallow. This suggests that
5000-460: The peregrine falcon and the African hobby . In Africa, tigerfish Hydrocynus vittatus have been recorded to routinely leap out of the water to capture low-flying swallows. The barn swallow has an enormous range, with an estimated global extent of about 250,000,000 km (97,000,000 sq mi) and a population of 190 million individuals. The species is evaluated as least concern on
5100-466: The welcome swallow , which began to colonise New Zealand in the 1920s, started breeding in the 1950s, and is now a common landbird there. Species breeding in temperate regions migrate during the winter when their insect prey populations collapse. Species breeding in more tropical areas are often more sedentary, although several tropical species are partial migrants or make shorter migrations. In antiquity , swallows were thought to have hibernated in
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#17327824689235200-617: The 2019 IUCN Red List , and has no special status under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ( CITES ), which regulates international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants. This is a species that has greatly benefited historically from forest clearance, which has created the open habitats it prefers, and from human habitation, which have given it an abundance of safe man-made nest sites. There have been local declines due to
5300-659: The Cape in South Africa , although it is absent from the driest regions of western South Africa and southern Namibia . The southern nominate subspecies of South Africa and Zimbabwe , is migratory , wintering further north, particularly in the west, where it can move sometimes as far as Gambia . N. c. xerica also leaves its drier breeding grounds in Botswana and northern Namibia in the southern winter. Other subspecies undertake local or altitudinal movements often dependent on
5400-657: The English name may be a calque on the Swedish term. There are few taxonomic problems within the genus, but the red-chested swallow —a resident of West Africa, the Congo Basin , and Ethiopia —was formerly treated as a subspecies of barn swallow. The red-chested swallow is slightly smaller than its migratory relative, has a narrower blue breast-band, and (in the adult) has shorter tail streamers. In flight , it looks paler underneath than barn swallow. Six subspecies of barn swallow are generally recognised. In eastern Asia,
5500-469: The Northern Hemisphere. Two subspecies, ( H. r. savignii and H. r. transitiva ) have fairly restricted ranges in the Nile valley and eastern Mediterranean, respectively. The other four are more widespread, with winter ranges covering much of the Southern Hemisphere. The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally nests in man-made structures and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds
5600-447: The Old World members) and cavity adoption (in New World members) as strategies, and the genus Hirundo and its allies use mud nests. The genus level cladogram shown below is based on a molecular phylogenetic study by Drew Schield and collaborators that was published in 2024. The choice of genera and the number of species is taken from the list of birds maintained by Frank Gill , Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of
5700-435: The Old World, particularly Africa, whereas cavity-nesters are more common in the New World. Mud-nesting species in particular are limited in areas of high humidity, which causes the mud nests to crumble. Many cave-, bank-, and cliff-dwelling species of swallows nest in large colonies. Mud nests are constructed by both males and females, and amongst the tunnel diggers, the excavation duties are shared, as well. In historical times,
5800-597: The Pseudochelidoninae, which are composed of the two species of river martins, and the Hirundininae, into which the remaining species are placed. The division of the Hirundininae has been the source of much discussion, with various taxonomists variously splitting them into as many as 24 genera and lumping them into just 12. Some agreement exists that three core groups occur within the Hirundininae:
5900-472: The West and South African swallows are nonmigratory. This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus Pseudochelidon ) and Hirundininae (all other swallows, martins, and saw-wings). In the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for the more fork-tailed species; however, this distinction does not represent
6000-626: The adult male probably being the most common distinction. The chicks hatch naked and with closed eyes. Fledged juveniles usually appear as duller versions of the adult. The family has a worldwide cosmopolitan distribution , breeding on every continent except Antarctica. One species, the Pacific swallow , occurs as a breeding bird on a number of oceanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Mascarene martin breeds on Reunion and Mauritius in
6100-449: The bird's selection of its breeding range. Barn swallows are semi-colonial, settling in groups from a single pair to a few dozen pairs, particularly in larger wooden structures housing animals. The same individuals often breed at the same site year after year, although settlement choices have been experimentally shown to be predicted by nest availability rather than any characteristics of available mates. Because it takes around 2 weeks for
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#17327824689236200-521: The birds in a natural sand bank or earth mound. The actual nest is a litter of straw and feathers in a chamber at the end of the burrow. The two to five white eggs are incubated by both parents. Hirundinidae 21, see text The swallows , martins , and saw-wings , or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica . Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have
6300-466: The birds swirling en masse before swooping low over the reeds. Reed beds are an important source of food prior to and whilst on migration; although the barn swallow is a diurnal migrant that can feed on the wing whilst it travels low over ground or water, the reed beds enable fat deposits to be established or replenished. Males sing to defend small territories (when living in colonies, less so in solitary pairs) and to attract mates. Males sing throughout
6400-400: The body condition of the bird and are presumably used by females to judge the physical condition and suitability for mating of males. Begging calls are used by the young when soliciting food from their parents. The typical song of swallows is a simple, sometimes musical twittering. Species of hirundine that are threatened with extinction are generally endangered due to habitat loss . This
6500-567: The breeding season, from late April into August in many parts of the range. Their song is made up of a "twitter warble," followed by a rising "P-syllable" in European H. r. rustica and the North American H. r. erythrogaster. In all subspecies, this is followed by a short "Q-syllable" and a trilled series of pulses, termed the "rattle." The rattle is sometimes followed by a terminal "Ω-Note" in some subspecies' populations, and always at
6600-433: The chicks. When the young fledge is difficult to determine, as they are enticed out of the nest after three weeks by parents, but frequently return to the nest afterwards to roost. Swallows are able to produce many different calls or songs, which are used to express excitement, to communicate with others of the same species, during courtship, or as an alarm when a predator is in the area. The songs of males are related to
6700-417: The colonisation of northern Alberta . A specific threat to wintering birds from the European populations is the transformation by the South African government of a light aircraft runway near Durban into an international airport for the 2010 FIFA World Cup . The roughly 250 m (270 yd) square Mount Moreland reed bed is a night roost for more than three million barn swallows, which represent 1% of
6800-417: The contribution of male swallows towards parental care is the highest of any passerine bird. The eggs of swallows tend to be white, although those of some mud-nesters are speckled. The typical clutch size is around four to five eggs in temperate areas and two to three eggs in the tropics. The incubation duties are shared in some species, and in others the eggs are incubated solely by the females. Amongst
6900-469: The diet varies by species and with the time of year. Individual species may be selective; they do not scoop up every insect around them, but instead select larger prey items than would be expected by random sampling. In addition, the ease of capture of different insect types affects their rate of predation by swallows. They also avoid certain prey types; in particular, stinging insects such as bees and wasps are generally avoided. In addition to insect prey,
7000-487: The end of H. r. tytleri song. Female songs are much shorter than male songs, and are only produced during the early part of the breeding season. Females sing spontaneously, though infrequently, and will also countersing in response to each other. The male barn swallow returns to the breeding grounds before the females and selects a nest site, which is then advertised to females with a circling flight and song. Plumage may be used to advertise: in some populations, like in
7100-473: The female is away to reduce heat loss (this is different from incubation as that involves warming the eggs, not just stopping heat loss). Incubation stints last for 5–15 minutes and are followed by bursts of feeding activity. From laying, swallow eggs take 10–21 days to hatch, with 14–18 days being more typical. The chicks of swallows hatch naked, generally with only a few tufts of down. The eyes are closed and do not fully open for up to 10 days. The feathers take
7200-488: The flocks. Climate change may affect the barn swallow; drought causes weight loss and slow feather regrowth, and the expansion of the Sahara will make it a more formidable obstacle for migrating European birds. Hot dry summers will reduce the availability of insect food for chicks. Conversely, warmer springs may lengthen the breeding season and result in more chicks, and the opportunity to use nest sites outside buildings in
7300-406: The following year. The barn swallow will mob intruders such as cats or accipiters that venture too close to their nest, often flying very close to the threat. Adult barn swallows have few predators, but some are taken by accipiters, falcons , and owls . Brood parasitism by cowbirds in North America or cuckoos in Eurasia is rare. Hatching success is 90% and the fledging survival rate
7400-466: The function of unbroken white tail spots as a measure of quality. In Texas, the swallow bug ( Oeciacus vicarius ), which is common on species such as the cliff swallow , is also known to infest barn swallows. Predatory bats such as the greater false vampire bat are known to prey on barn swallows. Swallows at their communal roosts attract predators and several falcon species make use of these opportunities. Falcon species confirmed as predators include
7500-408: The future to shorter tails if summers become hot and dry. Males with long streamers also have larger white tail spots, and since feather-eating bird lice prefer white feathers, large white tail spots without parasite damage again demonstrate breeding quality; a positive association exists between spot size and the number of offspring produced each season. The breeding season of the barn swallow
7600-453: The global population and 8% of the European breeding population. The reed bed lies on the flight path of aircraft using the proposed La Mercy airport, and there were fears that it would be cleared because the birds could threaten aircraft safety. However, following detailed evaluation, advanced radar technology will be installed to enable planes using the airport to be warned of bird movements and, if necessary, take appropriate measures to avoid
7700-458: The habit of some species to roost in some numbers in dovecotes, nests and other forms of shelter during harsh weather, and some species even entering torpor. There were several reports of suspected torpor in swallows from 1947, such as a 1970 report that white-backed swallows in Australia may conserve energy this way, but the first confirmed study that they or any passerine entered torpor was
7800-455: The head. The morphology of the eye in swallows is similar to that of a raptor. Like the unrelated swifts and nightjars , which hunt in a similar way, they have short bills, but strong jaws and a wide gape. Their body lengths range from about 10–24 cm (3.9–9.4 in) and their weight from about 10–60 g (0.35–2.12 oz). The smallest species by weight may be the Fanti sawwing , at
7900-652: The introduction of man-made stone structures such as barns and bridges, together with forest clearance, has led to an abundance of colony sites around the globe, significantly increasing the breeding ranges of some species. Birds living in large colonies typically have to contend with both ectoparasites and conspecific nest parasitism . In barn swallows, old mated males and young unmated males benefit from colonial behaviour, whereas females and mated young males likely benefit more from nesting by themselves. Pairs of mated swallows are monogamous, and pairs of nonmigratory species often stay near their breeding area all year, though
8000-516: The island of Jamaica , but was last seen there in 1989 and is now restricted to the island of Hispaniola . Swallows are tolerated by humans because of their beneficial role as insect eaters, and some species have readily adapted to nesting in and around human habitation. The barn swallow and house martin now rarely use natural sites. The purple martin is also actively encouraged by people to nest around humans and elaborate nest boxes are erected. Enough artificial nesting sites have been created that
8100-508: The line "Quando fiam uti chelidon [ut tacere desinam]?" ("When will I be like the swallow, so that I can stop being silent?") This refers to the myth of Philomela in which she turns into a nightingale , and her sister Procne into a swallow . Gilbert White studied the barn swallow in detail in his pioneering work The Natural History of Selborne , but even this careful observer was uncertain whether it migrated or hibernated in winter. Elsewhere, its long journeys were well observed, and
8200-405: The metabolic rate of swallows in flight is 49–72% lower than equivalent passerines of the same size. Swallows have two foveae in each eye, giving them sharp lateral and frontal vision to help track prey. They also have relatively long eyes, with their length almost equaling their width. The long eyes allow for an increase in visual acuity without competing with the brain for space inside of
8300-471: The migratory instinct in young birds and persuaded the government of France to conduct initial testing, but further experimentation stalled. Subsequent attempts to train homing behaviour into swallows and other passerines had difficulty establishing a statistically significant success rate, although the birds have been known to trap themselves in a cage repeatedly to get to the bait. Barn swallow 6, see text The barn swallow ( Hirundo rustica )
8400-441: The nest site is defended most vigorously during the breeding season. Migratory species often return to the same breeding area each year, and may select the same nest site if they were previously successful in that location. First-year breeders generally select a nesting site close to where they were raised. The breeding of temperate species is seasonal, whereas that of subtropical or tropical species can either be continuous throughout
8500-515: The north of the range might also lead to more offspring. The barn swallow is an attractive bird that feeds on flying insects and has therefore been tolerated by humans when it shares their buildings for nesting. As one of the earlier migrants, this conspicuous species is also seen as an early sign of summer's approach. In the Old World , the barn swallow appears to have used man-made structures and bridges since time immemorial. An early reference
8600-437: The opposite being true with males that are not. After building the nest, barn swallows may nest colonially where sufficient high-quality nest sites are available, and within a colony, each pair defends a territory around the nest which, for the European subspecies, is 4 to 8 m (40 to 90 sq ft) in size. Colony size tends to be larger in North America. In North America at least, barn swallows frequently engage in
8700-471: The passerines, with molecular evidence placing them as a distinctive lineage within the Sylvioidea ( Old World warblers and relatives). Phylogenetic analysis has shown that the family Hirundinidae is sister to the cupwings in the family Pnoepygidae . The two families diverged in the early Miocene around 22 million years ago. Within the family, a clear division exists between the two subfamilies,
8800-559: The purple martin now seldom nests in natural cavities in the eastern part of its range. Because of the long human experience with these conspicuous species, many myths and legends have arisen as a consequence, particularly relating to the barn swallow. Roman historian Pliny the Elder described a use of painted swallows to deliver a report of the winning horses at a race. There is also the Korean folktale of Heungbu and Nolbu , which teaches
8900-442: The rainfall pattern. This species has a slow erratic flight and frequently perches. Its diet consists of insects , usually taken in flight over grassland. The flight call is che-che-che , and the song is a twittering jumble of chip choop sounds. The banded martin, unlike the other members of its genus, is not colonial in its nesting habits. Its nest is at the end of a 60–90 cm (24–35 in) long tunnel usually excavated by
9000-415: The river martins, the bill is orange-red and the legs and feet are pink. The most common hirundine plumage is glossy dark blue or green above and plain or streaked underparts, often white or rufous. Species that burrow or live in dry or mountainous areas are often matte brown above (e.g. sand martin and crag martin ). The sexes show limited or no sexual dimorphism , with longer outer tail feathers in
9100-400: The saw-wings of the genus Psalidoprocne , the core martins, and the swallows of the genus Hirundo and their allies. The saw-wings are the most basal of the three, with the other two clades being sister to each other. The phylogeny of the swallows is closely related to evolution of nest construction; the more basal saw-wings use burrows as nest, the core martins have both burrowing (in
9200-416: The short tail streamers of the juvenile barn swallow invite confusion with juvenile red-chested swallow ( Hirundo lucida ), but the latter has a narrower breast band and more white in the tail. The barn swallow was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Hirundo rustica , characterised as " H. rectricibus, exceptis duabus intermediis, macula alba notatîs ". Hirundo
9300-450: The size of prey chosen. The more primitive species nest in existing cavities, for example in an old woodpecker nest, while other species excavate burrows in soft substrate such as sand banks. Swallows in the genera Hirundo , Ptyonoprogne , Cecropis , Petrochelidon , Atronanus and Delichon build mud nests close to overhead shelter in locations that are protected from both the weather and predators. The mud-nesters are most common in
9400-545: The species of swallow; in colonial-nesting species, it tends to be small, but it may be much larger for solitary nesters. Outside the breeding season, some species may form large flocks, and species may also roost communally. This is thought to provide protection from predators, such as sparrowhawks and hobbies . These roosts can be enormous; one winter-roosting site of barn swallows in Nigeria attracted 1.5 million individuals. Nonsocial species do not form flocks, but recently fledged chicks may remain with their parents for
9500-483: The species where the males help with incubation, their contribution varies amongst species, with some species such as the cliff swallow sharing the duties equally and the female doing most of the work in others. Amongst the barn swallows, the male of the American subspecies helps (to a small extent), whereas the European subspecies does not. Even in species where the male does not incubate the eggs, he may sit on them when
9600-476: The subspecies H. r. gutturalis , darker ventral plumage in males is associated with higher breeding success. In other populations, the breeding success of the male is related to the length of the tail streamers, with longer streamers being more attractive to the female. Males with longer tail feathers are generally longer-lived and more disease resistant, females thus gaining an indirect fitness benefit from this form of selection, since longer tail feathers indicate
9700-454: The unrelated swifts . It is not a particularly fast flier, with a speed estimated at 11 m/s (40 km/h), up to 20 m/s (72 km/h) and a wing beat rate of approximately 5, up to 7–9 times each second. The barn swallow typically feeds in open areas 7–8 m (23–26 ft) above shallow water or the ground often following animals, humans or farm machinery to catch disturbed insects, but it will occasionally pick prey items from
9800-554: The use of DDT in Israel in the 1950s, competition for nest sites with house sparrows in the US in the 19th century, and an ongoing gradual decline in numbers in parts of Europe and Asia due to agricultural intensification, reducing the availability of insect food. However, there has been an increase in the population in North America during the 20th century with the greater availability of nesting sites and subsequent range expansion, including
9900-642: The water surface, walls and plants. Swallows have been observed feeding on insects that fly around active white stork nests as well. In the breeding areas, large flies make up around 70% of the diet, with aphids also a significant component. However, in Europe, the barn swallow consumes fewer aphids than the house or sand martins . On the wintering grounds, Hymenoptera , especially flying ants , are important food items. Grasshoppers , crickets , dragonflies , beetles and moths are also preyed upon. When egg-laying, barn swallows hunt in pairs, but otherwise will form often large flocks . The amount of food
10000-456: The year or seasonal. Seasonal species in the subtropics or tropics usually time their breeding to coincide with the peaks in insect activity, which is usually the wet season, but some species, such as the white-bibbed swallow , nest in the dry season to avoid flooding in their riverbank nesting habitat. All swallows defend their nests from egg predators, although solitary species are more aggressive towards predators than colonial species. Overall,
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