swallow
hirundo rustica

Skilful aerobat with long tail streamers

Habitat: open country not too far from water

Common summer visitors, but declining

Red face, blue-black upperparts, long angled wings; long tail streamers in adult; up to 22 cm

Fast acrobatic flight after flying insects; gregarious, roost in large numbers in reed beds

Feeds on insects, gathering in large numbers to feed over wetlands

Nest is a shallow saucer of mud lined with feathers, built in outbuildings on a shelf or on a projection from the wall

2–3 broods May to June, sometimes later; 4 or 5 white eggs with reddish spots