Stats

Lifespan: 2-4 yrs
Size: Small
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Flock
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Worldwide
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Speed
Status: Common

About

The barn swallow is the most widespread swallow in the world, found on every continent except Antarctica. Males sport a deeply forked tail with elongated outer streamers — the longer the streamers, the more attractive to females — which they use as a display during courtship.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
2.
hatchling
A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Hirundo
Species: Hirundo rustica