We are all pleased to find this bird outside our window, because when the swallows arrive, spring comes. These are migratory birds with long pointed wings and streamlined bodies. Due to this body shape, their flight is very fast. They are often seen over fields, gardens, lakes, where insects are abundant. They are recognized by the forked tail. There is a legend which says that this bird helped people steal fire from the gods, an angry god threw burning coal at it, which, having hit in the middle of the tail, burned it.
Swallow: description
The swallows have a metallic blue-black color, the breast and stomach are light gray, with a redhead on the forehead in young animals, in adults the breast and forehead are white. They have a long forked tail with a series of white spots on separate feathers. The swallow's wings are pointed, have external tail feathers (streamers), in males they are slightly shorter than in females.
The size of an adult male is 17-19 cm in length, including a tail of 2-7 cm. The wingspan is 32-34.5 cm, in the air the bird makes 5.3 flaps per minute, weight - 16-22 g. If the tail is shorter, then this is a female swallow. The description of the bird is very similar to the swift, and they are often confused. The head is flattened with a short beak. In adults, molting occurs once a year from about August to March.
Swallows (and other small passerines) often have feather damage on their wings and tails in the form of small holes, such holes are created by parasites - bird lice and ticks. Also the enemies of these little birds are bats and birds of prey.
This bird is very widespread, it can be found throughout the world, with the exception of the northern regions. The flight of the swallow is not high-speed, usually the speed is 5-10 km / h at an altitude of 7-9 meters above the ground or water. At the same time, it is very maneuverable, since it needs to catch insects in the air. In flight above the water, it can simultaneously swim, diving into the water.
Nutrition
Insectivorous swallows. In the air during flight, they capture insects with their wide-open beaks. In bad weather, birds can eat some berries, seeds and dead insects. Long rainfall can create problems for food, which leads to the fact that the chick swallows die. Flying over water, birds immerse their beaks in water and scoop up moisture for drinking.
Nesting
Spring swallows arrive around April, they build nests from dirt and plant fibers on beams, under the roofs of houses or on ledges of rocks, inside they cover them with straw and down. Existing sockets are often updated and reused for nearly 50 years. The time from the beginning of the construction of the nest to the departure of the young is from 44 to 58 days. Due to construction that is too fast or humidity, the nests may collapse or fall.
To build a house, birds collect dirt from the edges of ponds, puddles and ditches, for a complete construction you will need to fly from a puddle to a nest about 1000 times. Dirt collection and nest building are social activities for rock swallows. On the surface of the puddles there are numerous small holes from their beaks.
Songs of swallows
The sounds that the bird makes are like gurgling and twittering. So the swallows communicate with each other when they feed the babies, fly up to the nests and in the presence of danger. The sound is low, soft, hoarse, like a creaky door.
Breeding
These birds, as a rule, are monogamous, keep in touch with one partner. Marriage for one season also occurs, in rare cases, the male has two females. Often birds nest in colonies. A twin swallow usually aggressively protects the small area around the nest from other individuals. The description of reproduction and development is as follows:
In clutch - from three to five eggs about 14 mm in diameter.
There can be two broods per season.
Chicks hatch on the 12-17th day. Newly-made young animals are fed by both parents.
Among the rock swallows, the “cuckoo effect” is widespread, when females lay their eggs in other people's nests or transfer them from their nests to neighboring ones.
Toddlers begin to fly from 25 days of age.
After they learn to fly, young people remain in the nest, and parents continue to feed them. They leave the nest after a few days and remain in the area for several weeks.
Migration
The main reason for seasonal migration is the lack of insects. On this basis, we can conclude: when swallows arrive, ticks and mosquitoes will soon bite. For a bird of this small size, the swallow makes impressive migration distances. Birds tend to migrate in tribal flocks, which sometimes number several hundred thousand. The flight can last several months, so the migration path of the swallow will always lie where there is a high level of flying insects. The arrival time back depends on the severity of the weather.
Swallows are among the first to migrate in the fall. They gather on wires and bare branches, in wetlands or near lakes and rivers. Overnight in the reeds. Families of swallows recognize each other's voices and stay together throughout the migration.
These birds are very tenacious and fertile, their number is several tens of millions of individuals and keeps at a stable level, so there is no threat to their existence at the moment. The only drawback is the expansion of the area of settlements and deforestation, but swallows live well in cities and villages with people. Some people specifically make their homes attractive to these birds so that swallows eat pests in their gardens.
Omens
There are many folk signs about the weather with which people associate the behavior of such a bird as a swallow. Their description is given below:
- By the rain: if the birds bathe and fly anxiously, then into the nest, then from the nest; if flying low above water or land.
- Dry weather - high flight.
- Before the storm - flight is up and down.