Barn Swallow

Overview
Barn Swallow: Medium swallow with glittering blue-black upperparts, red-brown forehead, chin and throat. Dark blue-black breast band, belly is white to orange. Tail is deeply forked with long outer streamers. Black legs and feet. It is the most abundant and widely distributed swallow in the world.

Range and Habitat
Barn Swallow: Breeds from Alaska east across Canada to Newfoundland and south throughout most of the U.S.; spends winters in the tropics and Eurasia. Preferred habitats include agricultural lands, suburban areas, marshes, and lakeshores.

The Barn Swallow has a fairly large range, reaching up to 10 million square kilometers. The population of the Barn Swallow is thought to be around 190 million individual birds. The Barn Swallow is native to numerous countries throughout the world. At the current time there is not any concern that the population of this bird species will face serious decline during the next few years. The Barn Swallow has a Least Concern rating due to its population and size around the world.

INTERESTING FACTS
Females prefer to mate with males that have the longest and most symmetrical tails and a dark red chest color. The killing of Barn Swallows for their feathers was one of the problems that led to the founding of the Audubon Society and the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.MW When building the mud nest, both male and female make up to 1000 trips collecting mud. A group of barn swallows are known collectively as a "kettle" of swallows.