Barn Swallow

Hirundo rustica

Audubon Illustration

John James Audubon, Birds of America (1827-1838). Public domain.

Migration Flyway

Showing primary migration corridor(s) for this species

Last Spotted Near You

View on eBird Wikipedia

About the Barn Swallow

The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) 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". There are eight subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Two subspecies (H. r. savignii and H. r. transitiva) have fairly restricted ranges in the Nile valley and eastern Mediterranean, respectively.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name: Hirundo rustica
Family: Swallows
Order: Passeriformes

Similar species

Other members of the swallows family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

Know when the Barn Swallow turns up near you

Add it to your watchlist and draw an alert zone around the places you actually bird. Birdr checks eBird reports and tells you when one is seen inside it.

How rare bird alerts work →