Barn swallow
Amazing fact
A barn swallow drinks by skimming the water’s surface in flight.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
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A barn swallow drinks by skimming the water’s surface in flight.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Barn swallow
- Scientific name
- Hirundo rustica
- Japanese name
- ツバメ
- Group
- Birds
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hirundinidae
- Genus
- Hirundo
A bird found across much of the world. It migrates to Japan, mainly to areas north of Kyushu.
Its long tail is deeply forked, and the male's tail tips are thinner and longer than the female's.
It builds a bowl-shaped mud nest on buildings, and catches insects to eat while flying.
How the Barn swallow lives
It is a migratory bird active during the day. It has been seen following tractors and catching insects disturbed by the machinery. Groups are often seen perching on wires or other high structures. Chicks in the nest chirp softly when begging for food.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Total length: 17 cmWingspan: 32 cm日本野鳥の会 BIRD FAN
- Weight
- 17–20 gUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Lifespan
- up to 8 years in the wildUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Active
- By day (diurnal)University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Diet
- Flies, grasshoppers, crickets, dragonflies, beetles, moths and other flying insectsUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Range
- All biogeographic regions except Australia and AntarcticaUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
Where the Barn swallow has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ツバメ
- 简体中文
- 家燕
- 繁體中文
- 家燕
- 한국어
- 제비
- Español
- Golondrina común
- Français
- Hirondelle rustique
- Deutsch
- Rauchschwalbe
- Português (Brasil)
- Andorinha-das-chaminés
- Italiano
- Rondine comune
- العربية
- خطاف المخازن
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Layang-layang api
- Tiếng Việt
- Nhạn bụng trắng
- Русский
- Деревенская ласточка
- Türkçe
- Kır kırlangıcı
- বাংলা
- পাতি আবাবিল
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 日本野鳥の会 BIRD FAN — ツバメChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Hirundo rusticaChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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