NL·0485Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Hirundo rustica
- Family
- Hirundinidae
- Native to
- Breeds across North America, Europe, North Africa and Asia; winters in South America, Africa, South Asia and Australasia
- Habitat
- Farmland, Grassland, Wetlands, Villages
On eBird ↗
Barn Swallow
Live sightings near you, the range map, bar charts of when it is seen, and Macaulay Library photos and recordings.
Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica
Also calledAbābīl (Urdu) · Parastu (Persian) · Yànzi (Chinese, 燕子) · Golondrina (Spanish) · Tsubame (Japanese) · Sunūnū (Arabic)
The most widespread swallow in the world, breeding across the Northern Hemisphere and wintering in the south. Its arrival has marked spring for farmers since antiquity.
The barn swallow is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. In Anglophone Europe, it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only member of family Hirundinidae called a "swallow" rather than a "martin". Wikipedia
What it can do
- iMigrates up to ~10,000 km, e.g. from Britain to South Africa
- iiCatches insects in fast, low, agile flight
- iiiBuilds cup nests from hundreds of mud pellets carried in its bill
- ivFemales prefer males with longer, more symmetrical tail streamers
In the field
Field marks
- aGlossy steel-blue upperparts and breast band
- bRed forehead and throat
- cLong, deeply forked tail streamers
- dSwift, low, twisting flight
- Voice
- A cheerful twittering song with a grating trill; call a sharp 'vit'
- Not to be confused with
- House martin has a white rump and short forked tail. Sand martin is brown. Red-rumped swallow has a pale rufous rump.
- Where to see it
- Farmyards, stables and open country near water
- When
- Europe and North America: summer visitor Apr–Sep
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Flying insects
- Habitat
- Open country near water, nesting in barns and under eaves
- Size
- 17–19 cm including tail streamers
- Lifespan
- Typically about 4 years; record over 11
Pairs often return to the same barn each year, and earlier-brood young help feed later broods.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Breeds across North America, Europe, North Africa and Asia; winters in South America, Africa, South Asia and Australasia
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Woodcuts and engravings matched from the Source Library’s scanned books by name. Plates marked “relative” show a close kin rather than this exact species. Click a plate to read the page it came from, with translation.
History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1586 · p.404
History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1586 · p.403
Athanasii Kircheri... Magnes sive de arte magnetica
Kircher, Athanasius · 1643 · p.761
History of Animals, Book I: On Viviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1554 · p.730
History of Animals, Book I: On Viviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1554 · p.714
Historiae Animalium Liber III: De Avium Natura
Conrad Gesner · 1555 · p.569
Historiae Animalium Liber III: De Avium Natura
Conrad Gesner · 1555 · p.586
Athanasii Kircheri Societatis Jesu Magnes sive de arte magnetica opus tripartium quo universa magnetis natura, eiusque in omnibus scientiis & artibus usus, nova medthodo explicatur, ac praeterae e viribus & prodigiosis effectibus magneticarum, aliarumque abditarum naturae motionum in elementis, lapidibus, plantis, animalibus, elucescentium, multa hucusque incognita natureae arcana, per physica, medica, chymica, & mathematica omnis generis experimenta recluduntur
Kircher, Athanasius · 1654 · p.559
De Indiae utriusque re naturali et medica
Willem Piso · 1658 · p.480
Noah's Ark
Athanasius Kircher · 1675 · p.139
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Hirundo rustica in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Aristotle wrote that 'one swallow does not make a spring', and Gilbert White in the 18th century still wondered if swallows hibernated in mud. Sailors' swallow tattoos traditionally marked 5,000 nautical miles travelled.
Curiosity
It is the national bird of Austria and Estonia.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 11901.