Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Order: PASSERIFORMES
Family: HIRUNDINIDAE Swallows
Scientific name: Hirundo rustica
English name: Barn Swallow
Characteristic: Size 15 cm. An aerial insect huter with a streamlined body, long pointed wings, and a long forked tail. Upperpart is black with a blue sheen; underpart whitish with black breast band. Forehead, chin to breast are reddish brown.
Distribution: Almost cosmopolitan, in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Habitat: Usually perching on electric cables, and also on trees and shrubs standing in marshy areas.
Habit: This bird is a winter visitor to Thailand; seen hawking around for aerial insects above open ground, grassfield, paddy fields and marshes. At night, they roots on electric cables, telephone cables and in reedbeds. Breeding season is between April-June, when they construct a nest made of clay, in which a clutch of 4-6 eggs is laid. The incubation period is 14 -16 days.
Status: An exceedingly common migrant throughout the country.
