Size: The adult male barn swallow is 17–19 cm long including 2–7 cm of elongated outer tail feathers. It has a wingspan of 32–34.5 cm and weighs 16–22 g.

Vocalisations: The song of the male Barn swallow is a cheerful warble, often ending with 'su-seer'. Other calls include 'witt' or 'witt-witt' and a loud 'splee-plink' when excited (or trying to chase intruders away from the nest). The alarm calls include a sharp 'siflitt' for predators like cats and a 'flitt-flitt' for birds of prey like the hobby.

Habitat: The barn swallows live in open countryside and build their nests in sheltered places, protected from precipitation and wind, using human buildings and structures; very often, nests are built inside buildings, such as barns.

Behaviour: Barn swallows are carnivores (insectivores). They feed mainly on large flies but also eat bugs, bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, and flying ants. It is a migratory bird, returns to Latvia in April – May. Males return the first, and they find a place for the nest. Later they construct the nest together with the female with mud pellets collected in their beaks and lined with grasses, feathers, algae, or other soft materials. The female lays 2 to 7 reddish-spotted white eggs. It likes to rest on power lines and roof eaves. Enemies: owls, hawks and falcons.

Interesting facts: Their chicks are very weak and sometimes even unable to hatch on their own. Parents therefore help the chick to hatch when they think it is ready to do so. Contrary to the popular belief, swallows do not predict rain – their flight height depends only on the number of insects. The swallow is the national bird of Estonia.

Photo: pixabay.com