Swallow (Hirundo rustica) feeding a chick. The nest is a bowl made out of mud collected by the parents. The health of the chicks can be judged by the

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Swallow (Hirundo rustica) feeding a chick. The nest is a bowl made out of mud collected by the parents. The health of the chicks can be judged by the redness of their beaks when begging for food and the parents, who share the role of feeding, distribute food according to this colouration - with the fittest chicks receiving more. The swallow is a migrant - wintering in the Southern Hemisphere and breeding in the summer in North America and Eurasia. It can grow to 19 centimetres and is often seen catching insects in mid air.

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Size: 5091px × 3443px
Photo credit: © LESLIE J BORG/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, baby, bird, bowl, fauna, feeding, hirundo, mud, nature, nest, ornithology, passerine, regurgitation, rustica, swallow, wildlife, zoological, zoology