Barn Swallow ( Hirundo rustica, family: Hirundinidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called European Swallow

barn swallow kruger national park birds The Barn Swallow (Latin name Hirundo rustica) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 518 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 748 also a picture of the Barn Swallow on page 816. The Barn Swallow belongs to the family of birds classified as Hirundinidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Barn Swallow is also known by these other names: European Swallow, Swallow.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Barn Swallow was called the European Swallow

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

Kruger Park Barn SwallowThe Barn Swallow is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common summer visitor

In terms of distribution of the Barn Swallow in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Barn Swallow : see above distribution map.

The Barn Swallow.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Barn Swallow is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Barn Swallow is about 20 cms and its weight is about 18 gms

The male and female Barn Swallow have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is chestnut.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is black, brown.
  • Back is chestnut.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Barn Swallow feeds on wing mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Barn Swallow takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Barn Swallow is extra limital

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Barn Swallow are: woodlands and grasslands . The Barn Swallow is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You will normally see the Barn Swallow in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Inkonjane/Ucelizapholo/Udlihashe

Zulu ... iNkonjane

Afrikaans ...Europese Swael

German ... Rauchschwalbe

Portuguese ... Andorinha-das-chamins

French ... Hirondelle rustique

Dutch ... Boerenzwaluw

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 518

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za