Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica
A summer guest with a forked tail that builds mud nests under the eaves of barns and porches. The barn swallow.
| Size | 17–19 cm (with tail streamers) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 32–35 cm |
| Weight | 16–22 g |
| Diet | Flying insects |
| Eggs | 4–5 |
| Where to see it | Villages, farms, waterside; March–October |
The back is shiny navy blue, the belly cream, and the forehead and throat brick red. The two outer tail feathers are long and thin. Males have longer tails, and females choose the long-tailed males.
A swallow catches its food in the air. It drinks in the air too, flying very low over the water. Before rain, insects fly lower, so swallows fly lower too. That's where the saying "if swallows fly low, it will rain" comes from.
It builds its nest from hundreds of mud pellets it carries in its beak. The same pair returns to the same nest for years and repairs it.
They spend the winter in Africa. Every year they travel thousands of kilometers there and back, and often return in spring to the village where they were born. They really do know the address.
To draw it in DrawBird
Use the long wing idea from the gull lesson, but draw the bird small and slim. Make the tail a fork with two pointed tips. Back navy, throat red, belly white.
Drawing lesson: How to draw a gull →
Other birds
- Common swift
Sickle-winged birds that circle around minarets screaming on summer evenings. They spend a… - Greater flamingo
Pink, with very long legs and a beak that bends the wrong way. The greater flamingo is the… - European robin
A small bird with an orange chest that hops a step or two away and waits for worms while y…