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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 a distinctive appearance.
Swallows occur worldwide except in the coldest regions and remotest islands. Temperate-zone species include long-distance migrants. The common swallow (Hirundo rustica) is almost worldwide in migration; an American species, called barn swallow, may summer in Canada and winter in Argentina.
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 ...
Learn about the swallow, a glossy, dark blue-black and white bird with a red forehead and throat. Find out when and where to see it, how it feeds and migrates, and how to help it.
The sight of an early spring Swallow with its long, forked tail, red throat and white belly signals that summer is not far away. A long-distance migrant, many of our Swallows spend the winter months in South Africa. The first Swallows begin to arrive in the UK during March and stay here into October.
Swallows are small birds with dark, glossy-blue backs, red throats, pale underparts and long tail streamers. They are extremely agile in flight and spend most of their time in the air. They are widespread breeding birds in the Northern Hemisphere, migrating south in winter.
Swallows must be amongst the most popular birds - their arrival each spring in the northern hemisphere presages the onset of summer. Swallows are eaily recognised with their slender bodies, long pointed wings and forked tails; martins tend to have much less deeply forked tails.
