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Birds of Zihuatanejo

CLASS AVES

Barn Swallows are dark blue on their back, wings, and tail. Their underbelly is a rusty red colour, which gets darker on their face and throat. The colours of the male birds are bolder than the females’. Unlike other swallows, the Barn Swallow has a forked tail. An aerial insectivore, Barn Swallow are proficient consumers of a diverse range of insects, including mosquitoes, flies and moths. Prey is captured in midair, often over water, open fields or roads. Diet is also supplemented (particularly during bad weather) with berries, seeds, and dead insects found on the ground.

Barn Swallow

Hirundo rustica

Diet

  • Primarily flying insects, including flies, mosquitoes, beetles, wasps, winged ants, dragonflies, and moths.

  • Occasionally feeds on spiders and other small aerial invertebrates.

  • Hunts almost entirely in flight, catching insects over fields, wetlands, rivers, coastlines, and open water.

Range

  • One of the world's most widespread birds, breeding across North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

  • Winters throughout Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, southern Africa, and parts of southern Asia.

  • In Mexico, including the Zihuatanejo region, it is a common migrant and winter visitor, although a few birds may remain year-round in some areas.

  • Inhabits open country, agricultural fields, wetlands, grasslands, coastal areas, towns, and villages, usually near water.

Male / Female

  • Male: Glossy metallic blue upperparts, cinnamon forehead and throat, creamy to buff underparts, and long, deeply forked outer tail streamers.

  • Female: Similar in colour but generally has shorter tail streamers, slightly duller plumage, and less intense chestnut colouring on the throat and forehead.

  • The sexes are similar in appearance, with tail length being the most reliable field mark.

Size

  • Length: 15–19 cm (5.9–7.5 in), including the tail streamers.

  • Wingspan: 29–34 cm (11.4–13.4 in)

  • Weight: 16–24 g

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