Bank Swallow
From WikiBird
Contents |
Size
Length: 12cm (??in), Wingspan: ??cm (??in)
Field Marks
Smallest swallow with a tiny bill and a forked tail. Brown above, white below with a narrow brown band on the breast; the bill is black, the legs brown. Rump paler than back and tail. Immature: Rufous tips to the coverts and margins to the secondaries.
Similar species
Its brown back, small size and quicker, jerkier flight separate it at once from swallows and House Martins. It is most similar to Northern Rough-winged and immature Tree Swallow. When perched, as mixed flocks of swallows often do on telephone wires, the Bank Swallow is obviously smaller than the other species. In flight, the Bank Swallow has a dark breast band from below and a paler rump, contrasting with darker back and tail, from above.
Sounds
The twittering song is continuous when the birds are on the wing, and becomes a conversational undertone after they have settled in the roost. The harsh alarm is heard when a passing enemy requires combined action to drive it away.
Feeding & Behavior
The food consists of small insects, mostly gnats and other flies whose early stages are aquatic. Most often seen flying.
Habitat & Nesting
Sociable nesting in cavities near water. The nests are at the end of tunnels of from a few inches to three or four feet in length, bored in sand or gravel. The actual nest is a litter of straw and feathers in a chamber at the end of the burrow. Four or five white eggs are laid about the middle of May, and a second brood is usual.
Range
Europe, Mediterranean countries, part of northern Asia, and North America. Winters in eastern and southern Africa, southern Asia and South America.
Resources
