Barn Swallow, (Hirundo rustic), collecting mud from ground for nest material, Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia
The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts, a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the swallow; in Northern Europe it is the only common species called a "swallow" rather than a "martin". There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Four are strongly migratory, and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia. Its huge range means that the barn swallow is not endangered, although there may be local population declines due to specific threats. The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally uses man-made structures to breed and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in 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.
Size: 5155px × 3479px
Location: Byron Bay NSW, Australia
Photo credit: © Dominic Robinson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: animal, animals, australia, australian, avifauna, barn, bay, bird, birdlife, birds, byron, collecting, common, european, ground, hirundine, hirundines, hirundo, history, mud, natural, nature, passerine, passerines, rustic, south, swallow, wales, wildlife
