THE ANIMAL FILES

Barn swallow

Hirundo rustica

A drink can be collected without leaving the air.

Barn swallows catch insects in flight and skim water to drink. Their forked tails include outer streamers that differ with age and sex. Both sexes sing, although female song is shorter and heard less often.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Barn swallow
Image: Andreas Trepte · Commons · CC BY-SA 2.5
Streamers with age
Juveniles lack the long adult streamers.[1]
Disturbed insects
Animals and machinery can flush prey.[1]
Skimming a drink
An open mouth scoops water during low flight.[1]

Streamers with age

Elongated outer tail feathers create the deep fork. Adult females generally have shorter streamers than males, and juveniles lack the full long form. Red facial areas, blue upperparts and the breast pattern add identification features beyond tail length.[1]

Disturbed insects

Swallows feed over open ground and shallow water, sometimes following people, animals or farm machinery that disturb insects. They can also pick items from surfaces. Feeding in flight can continue during migration, linking travel and food gathering.[1]

Skimming a drink

The bird flies low over a lake or river and takes water into its open mouth. Bathing can similarly involve a brief dip while airborne. These behaviours use contact with the water surface without requiring a perched stop beside it.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Do only males sing?

No. Females also sing, though their songs are shorter and less frequently produced.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why might a moving farm vehicle create a feeding opportunity?

Reveal the explanation

It can disturb insects into the air, where swallows can intercept them.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Barn swallow (cited revision)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Hirundo rustica

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

Great titSmall feet can become a food-holding tool.Parus major ↗Common starlingA moving cloud of starlings is built from neighbours reacting to neighbours.Sturnus vulgaris ↗Common blackbirdA black male does not make every blackbird black.Turdus merula ↗