Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica
Identification Tips:
- Length: 6 inches
- Tiny bill
- Dark orange forehead and throat
- Pale orange underparts
- Dark, iridiscent upperparts
- Long, deeply forked tail
- Juvenile similar to adult but paler underneath with a shorter tail
- Most often seen flying
- Will nest communally in mud nests under bridges, in barns and caves, etc
Similar species:
The Barn Swallow can be told from all swallows by its deeply forked tail.
Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.