Animal
Barn swallow
The barn swallow is a small, shiny blue bird with a long, forked tail. It catches bugs while it flies and builds a nest out of mud.
The barn swallow is a small, speedy bird with a glossy blue back, a reddish throat and a long, deeply forked tail. It catches insects in the air, builds cup-shaped mud nests on barns and bridges, and makes long migrations between the Northern Hemisphere, where it nests, and the Southern Hemisphere, where it spends the winter.
Hirundo rustica is the most abundant and widely distributed swallow in the world, breeding across the Northern Hemisphere and wintering through much of the Southern Hemisphere. An aerial insect-eater that now nests almost entirely on human-made structures, it is listed as Least Concern, though its global population is decreasing.
Photo: Morhaf Aljanee, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the barn swallow
This is the barn swallow.
Its back is shiny blue, and its throat is reddish brown. Its tail is long, with two thin points. The barn swallow zooms through the air all day.
The barn swallow is a small, sparrow-sized bird and an amazing flyer. Its back, wings and tail are a glossy steel blue, its forehead and throat are reddish brown, and its belly ranges from pale cream to tawny orange.
The easiest thing to spot is its tail: long and deeply forked, with two thin streamers at the ends. Barn swallows spend most of their time in the air, swooping low over fields and water to catch insects. They are the most widespread swallows in the world.
Hirundo rustica, family Hirundinidae, is 15 to 19 centimeters long, weighs only 17 to 20 grams and has a 29 to 32 centimeter wingspan. It has steely blue upperparts, a cinnamon forehead and throat, and underparts that range from pale to rufous; males are more boldly colored than females.
The long outer tail feathers form a deep fork with thin streamers, which juveniles lack. According to the RSPB, females prefer males with longer streamers. Cornell describes it as the most abundant and widely distributed swallow species in the world, breeding throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.15 to 0.19 m
- Wingspan
- 0.29 to 0.32 m
- Weight
- 0.02 to 0.02 kg
- Top speed
- 27 to 35 km/h
Where it lives
Barn swallows live almost all over the world.
They nest in the north in summer. Then they fly far away to warm places for the winter.
Barn swallows live on every continent except Antarctica. They nest across North America, Europe and Asia in summer. In fall they fly south to spend the winter in Central and South America, Africa, southern and southeastern Asia and Australia, then fly back in spring.
They love open country with plenty of flying insects: farms, meadows, parks, ball fields and the edges of lakes and rivers. For nesting they need a sheltered ledge to build on and a muddy spot to collect building material.
The IUCN's global assessment lists the species in more than 150 countries, from Iceland and Norway to South Africa, Argentina and Australia, at elevations up to 3,000 meters. It is a full migrant and gathers in large groups: Northern Hemisphere breeders winter through much of the Southern Hemisphere, and British birds, for example, winter in Africa.
It forages over open habitats, including farmland, grassland, savanna, wetlands, beaches and open water. Breeding sites need open ground for feeding, a structure or cliff to build on and a source of mud, such as a riverbank.
Continents
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
- Migration route · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Open country near water across almost the whole world except Antarctica. Barn swallows nest across North America, Europe and Asia and spend the northern winter through much of Central and South America, Africa, southern and southeastern Asia and Australia. The IUCN lists all these countries as breeding or year-round range; Canada, which it lists only as a passage country, is included because COSEW
Places: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan and 149 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Spain, Canada, Sweden, UK, France, Denmark, Finland and 161 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Migration route · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Countries the IUCN lists as places barn swallows pass through on migration.
Places: Nicaragua, Palestine, Qatar and South Sudan.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Countries where the IUCN lists barn swallows only outside the breeding season.
Places: Costa Rica, Jamaica and Uruguay.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
What it eats
Barn swallows catch bugs while they fly.
They swoop low over fields and ponds. They even drink by skimming the water while flying!
Barn swallows eat flying insects, and they catch almost all of them in the air. Flies make up most of their food, along with beetles, bees, wasps, ants, butterflies and moths. They usually pick out single, fairly large insects rather than gulping swarms of tiny ones.
Swallows often fly just above the ground or water, and they follow tractors, cattle and even people to catch insects that fly up from the grass. They even drink and bathe on the wing, dipping down to scoop a sip from a pond.
The diet is almost entirely flying insects, taken in flight from just above the ground or water to heights of 100 feet (about 30 meters) or more. Flies dominate, with beetles, bees, wasps, ants, butterflies and moths; birds tend to select relatively large single prey rather than feeding on swarms.
Foraging swallows often follow farm machinery, cattle herds and people to catch flushed insects, and in cold weather may pick flies from barn walls. They drink and bathe on the wing. They also swallow grit, small pebbles and even eggshells or oyster shells set out by people, which may help digestion or supply calcium.
Did you know?
Barn swallows helped start a famous bird club.
Worry about barn swallows killed for hat feathers helped lead to the first Audubon Society in the 1880s.
George Bird Grinnell's 1886 editorial on the hat trade's toll on barn swallows led to the founding of the first Audubon Society.
An amazing body
Barn swallows have long, pointed wings for fast flying.
The long, forked tail helps them twist and turn in the air. Their beak is small, and they snap up bugs in the air.
A barn swallow's body is built for flying. Its wings are long and pointed, and its forked tail lets it make quick, tight turns and dives as it chases insects.
It flies with smooth, fluid wingbeats, pulling its wingtips back at the end of each stroke, and rarely glides. Perched, it looks like a little cone, with a slightly flattened head, almost no visible neck and broad shoulders. Barn swallows spend most of their time in the air.
Barn swallows are built for aerial foraging: broad shoulders tapering to long, pointed wings, and a tail that extends well beyond the wingtips, with long outer feathers forming the fork. They fly with fluid wingbeats in bursts of straight flight, rarely gliding, and can execute quick, tight turns and dives.
The tail streamers also play a role in mate choice, since the RSPB reports that females prefer males with longer streamers. White spots under the tail are hard to see except in flight. Migration is fast and sustained: the RSPB says migrating swallows cover more than 200 miles (about 320 kilometers) a day, mainly in daylight, at 17 to 22 miles an hour.
Growing up
Barn swallows build a nest out of mud.
They carry little mud balls in their beaks. The nest is stuck to a wall or a beam in a barn. Mom and dad feed the babies.
A barn swallow pair builds its nest together. They carry mud in their bills, mix it with grass to make little pellets, and stack them into a cup stuck to a beam or wall, often inside a barn or under a bridge. Then they line it with grass and feathers.
The female lays 3 to 7 creamy eggs spotted with brown, and the chicks hatch after 12 to 17 days. Parents bring them food until they leave the nest, about 15 to 27 days later. Older brothers and sisters from an earlier brood sometimes help feed the new chicks!
Pairs inspect several sites before choosing one, often eaves, rafters and beams of barns and stables or the undersides of bridges. Both sexes build: they mix mud with grass stems into pellets, make a small shelf, then build up the sides into a half-cup on a wall or a full cup on a beam, lined with grass and then feathers. Old nests may be cleaned out and reused.
Clutches are 3 to 7 creamy or pinkish-white eggs spotted with brown, lavender and gray. Incubation lasts 12 to 17 days, and the naked, sparsely downy chicks stay in the nest for 15 to 27 days. Pairs raise one or two broods a year, and 'helpers at the nest', usually older siblings, sometimes feed the young. The oldest known barn swallow in North America was at least 10 years old.
Long journeys and busy colonies
In the fall, swallows sit together on wires.
Then they fly far, far away to warm places. In the spring they come back to nest.
Barn swallows are great travelers. As fall approaches, large groups gather on wires and in reedbeds before flying south. Migrating swallows can travel more than 320 kilometers (200 miles) in a day, mostly in daylight.
Long ago, people believed swallows spent the winter asleep at the bottom of ponds! Now we know that swallows from Britain fly all the way to Africa. Swallows twitter and trill as they fly, and a group will chase away a hawk or gull that comes near their nests.
Before migrating, swallows congregate in large groups on wires and in reedbeds; on passage they cover more than 200 miles a day, mainly by day. The RSPB recalls that people once believed swallows hibernated at the bottom of ponds.
During breeding, males defend a small territory around the nest and chase off other males. Individuals or groups mob predators such as hawks, gulls and grackles that approach nests. The song is a twittering, trilling stream, quite different from the screams of swifts, birds with which swallows are often confused.
Did you know?
Swallows can drink while they fly!
Barn swallows drink and even bathe in flight, dipping down to skim the water.
Swallows drink and bathe on the wing, taking a mouthful of water or touching the belly to the surface in flight.
Helping barn swallows
There are many barn swallows, but fewer than before.
People can help by leaving a barn door open and a muddy spot for nest building.
Barn swallows are still very common, and the IUCN lists them as Least Concern. But their numbers are slowly falling: in North America they declined by about a quarter between 1966 and 2019.
In the 1800s many swallows were killed for their feathers to decorate hats, and people still hunt them for food in some wintering areas. Today you can help by leaving an outbuilding door open for nesting, keeping a patch of mud for building, and picking up old string or fishing line, which can tangle birds in their nests.
The IUCN assessed the species as Least Concern in 2018, with a decreasing population of about 290 to 487 million mature individuals. Threats it lists include livestock farming and ranching, hunting and trapping, dams and water management, invasive species, agricultural and forestry pollution, and temperature extremes. In North America the Breeding Bird Survey recorded a cumulative decline of about 25 percent from 1966 to 2019.
History links the species to conservation itself: Cornell notes that the hat trade's toll on barn swallows prompted George Bird Grinnell's 1886 editorial, which led to the founding of the first Audubon Society. Human buildings have also helped, greatly expanding the breeding range in North America.
IUCN Red List
How is the barn swallow doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3
Amazing facts
-
Swallows can drink while they fly!
Barn swallows drink and even bathe in flight, dipping down to skim the water.
Swallows drink and bathe on the wing, taking a mouthful of water or touching the belly to the surface in flight.
-
People once thought swallows slept in ponds all winter.
Long ago, some people believed swallows spent the winter at the bottom of ponds. Really, they fly to Africa!
The RSPB notes the old belief that swallows hibernated at the bottom of ponds; in fact British swallows fly to Africa for the winter.
-
Big brothers and sisters help feed the babies.
Older swallows from an earlier brood sometimes help their parents feed the new chicks.
Helpers at the nest are usually older siblings from earlier clutches, though unrelated juveniles sometimes help too.
-
Barn swallows helped start a famous bird club.
Worry about barn swallows killed for hat feathers helped lead to the first Audubon Society in the 1880s.
George Bird Grinnell's 1886 editorial on the hat trade's toll on barn swallows led to the founding of the first Audubon Society.
Words to know
- migration
- a long journey animals make at the same time each year
- streamer
- a long, thin tail feather
- hemisphere
- one half of the Earth, north or south of the equator
- pellet
- a small ball, like the mud balls swallows use to build nests
- brood
- a family of chicks hatched at the same time
- aerial
- happening in the air
Discovery challenge
-
What do barn swallows make their nests from?
What material do barn swallows build their nests from?
What is the main building material of a barn swallow's nest?
- Mud
- Snow
- Stones
Show the answer
Mud
They make little mud balls and stick them together.
They carry mud in their bills, mix it with grass and build a cup, then line it with grass and feathers.
Mud pellets mixed with grass stems, built up from a small shelf and lined with grass and feathers.
-
Where do barn swallows catch their food?
How do barn swallows catch most of their food?
How does the barn swallow obtain most of its prey?
- Digging in the ground
- Catching insects in the air
- Diving deep underwater
Show the answer
Catching insects in the air
They catch bugs while they fly!
They catch flying insects, mostly flies, in midair.
They forage almost exclusively in flight, taking relatively large single insects.
-
What does a barn swallow's tail look like?
Which feature makes a barn swallow easy to recognize?
Which feature sets the barn swallow apart from other North American swallows?
- A short, round tail
- A long, deeply forked tail
- A fluffy, curly tail
Show the answer
A long, deeply forked tail
It is long, with two thin points.
Its long, deeply forked tail with thin streamers stands out.
Cornell notes the long, deeply forked tail sets it apart from all other North American swallows.
-
Where do British swallows go in winter?
Where do barn swallows from Britain spend the winter?
Where do barn swallows that breed in Britain spend the northern winter?
- At the bottom of ponds
- In Africa
- At the North Pole
Show the answer
In Africa
They fly all the way to Africa!
They fly to Africa. People once thought they slept in ponds, but that is not true.
They winter in Africa; the old idea of hibernation in ponds was mistaken.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
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Country
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom, or UK, lies on islands off the northwest coast of Europe. It is made up of four parts, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and about 69.5 million people live there. Its capital is London.
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Country
Egypt
Egypt is in the northeastern corner of Africa, and its Sinai Peninsula reaches into Asia. Almost all of it is desert, so most of its more than 100 million people live along the green banks of the Nile River, where one of the world's earliest civilizations grew.
Explore next
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Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
-
Watch
Country
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom, or UK, lies on islands off the northwest coast of Europe. It is made up of four parts, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and about 69.5 million people live there. Its capital is London.
-
Watch
Country
Egypt
Egypt is in the northeastern corner of Africa, and its Sinai Peninsula reaches into Asia. Almost all of it is desert, so most of its more than 100 million people live along the green banks of the Nile River, where one of the world's earliest civilizations grew.
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Adélie penguin
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how the barn swallow's body suits catching insects in flight.
- Explain what migration is and where barn swallows travel.
- Describe how barn swallows build mud nests and raise their young.
- Name simple actions that help swallows near homes and farms.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why do you think barn swallows fly south for the winter?
- How have human buildings helped barn swallows?
- What could a farm or school do to make barn swallows welcome?
Try at home or in class
- Mix soil and water with a little dry grass and try to build a small cup by pressing on tiny mud balls one at a time, like a swallow.
- On a world map, trace a swallow's trip from Britain to southern Africa with string, and work out how many days it might take at 320 kilometers a day.
Key vocabulary: migration, streamer, hemisphere, pellet, brood, aerial
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Hirundo rustica (Barn Swallow), global Red List assessment 2018 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Barn Swallow overview , Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
- Barn Swallow identification , Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
- Barn Swallow life history , Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
- Swallow , RSPB
- COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) in Canada, 2021 , Government of Canada, Species at Risk Public Registry
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 28, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.