Known in Eurasia simply as ‘the swallow,’ the Barn Swallow is a distinctive bird with bold plumage and a long, slender, deeply forked tail. Barn Swallows are deep blue above, with an orange-buff breast and belly. They have russet throats and forehead patches.
The rest of the head is deep blue, extending in a line through the eye, giving the birds a masked appearance. Females are slightly duller and shorter-tailed than males. Juveniles look similar to adults, but have much shorter tails.
Barn Swallows need open areas to forage and suitable sites for nesting, now almost always buildings, bridges, or other man-made structures. They generally avoid unbroken forest and very dry areas. Their original habitat was most likely mountainous areas and seacoasts with caves, hollow trees, and rock crevices for nesting. Now that they have adapted to living with humans, they are found in agricultural areas, suburbs, and along highways–anywhere there are open areas and nesting structures, especially if water is close by.
Barn Swallows can often be seen foraging for insects low over fields or water. In bad weather, they sometimes forage on the ground. They gather mud for their nests from mud puddles, although they do not raise their wings when they do this as Cliff Swallows do.
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