Welcome swallow
| Welcome swallow | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Risdon Brook Park in Tasmania | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Hirundinidae |
| Genus: | Hirundo |
| Species: | H. neoxena |
| Binomial name | |
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Hirundo neoxena (Gould, 1842) |
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The welcome swallow (Hirundo neoxena) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family.
It is a species native to Australia and nearby islands, and self-introduced into New Zealand in the middle of the twentieth century. It is very similar to the Pacific swallow with which it is often considered conspecific.
This species breeds in southern and eastern Australia in a variety of habitats, mostly in open areas, man made clearings or urban environments, but not desert or dense forest. Eastern populations are largely migratory, wintering in northern Australia. Western birds and those in New Zealand are mainly sedentary.
The welcome swallow was first described by John Gould in The birds of Australia as a member of the genus Hirundo, but the first publication is often incorrectly given as in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Both its species name and common name refer to people welcoming its return as a herald of spring in southern parts of Australia.
The welcome swallow is a small size bird and is fast-flying. Their flying style is circular in pattern with swift darting motions. They have graceful shape and flight, moreover they often fly singly, in couples or in clusters. The welcome swallow is metallic blue-black above, light grey below on the breast and belly, and rusty on the forehead, throat and upper breast. It has a long forked tail, with a row of white spots on the individual feathers. These birds are about 15 cm (5.9 in) long, including the outer tail feathers which are slightly shorter in the female. The welcome swallow's weight is about 9-20g. From the Gould collection in Tasmania a “natural size” male had a wing size of 11.1 cm, tail size of 7.4 cm, and a culmen of 0.7 cm. While the female has 10.9 cm wings, a 6.25 cm tail, and a culmen of 0.7 cm. The call is a mixture of twittering and soft warbling notes, and a sharp whistle in alarm. However, their call is normally quiet and does not carry very far.
Young welcome swallows are buffy white, instead of rufous, on the forehead and throat, and have shorter tail streamers.
The winter range in northern Australia overlaps with that of wintering barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), but the latter is readily separable by its blue breast band. Welcome swallows readily breed close to human habitation. Swallows are a commonly found on wires, posts and other perches.
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Wikipedia