Barn swallow

Description

The barn swallow is about 19 to 22 centimetres in length, of which two to seven cm are accounted for by the tail feathers. The weight of males during the breeding season is between 16.1 and 21.4 grams, females weigh between 16 and 23.7 grams. The wingspan is 32 to 34.5 cm.

The barn swallow is very slender with a characteristic deeply forked and long tail. The back is a shiny metallic blue-black. The underpart is creamy white. The maroon colour on the throat, which is framed entirely in black, and on the forehead and chin is also characteristic. There are white spots on the tail feathers, which can be seen when the tail is spread.

The species lives in the open cultivated landscape where there are farms, meadows and ponds. The birds spend the summer between April and September or early October in their breeding grounds. These are located throughout Europe, Northwest Africa, the temperate regions of Asia and in North America up to an altitude of about 1000 metres and as far as the Arctic Circle. Barn swallows winter in central and southern Africa. Asian wintering grounds are found in India and Iran.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rauchschwalbe). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 14 December 2021