Hirundinidae
Welcome Swallow
Hirundo neoxena
The Forked Hour
- Length
- 15 cm
- Wingspan
- 27 cm
- Family
- Hirundinidae
Identification
A small swallow of steel-blue above and rust at the throat and forehead, with cream underparts and a long, deeply forked tail. At rest on a wire they look almost slight; in the air they become the shape of hunting. Do not confuse with a Tree Martin (shorter tail, pale rump) or a Fairy Martin (rufous cap, square tail).
Distinctive marks
- Steel-blue back and crown
- Rusty throat and forehead
- Long forked tail
- Cream underparts
- Scything, never-still flight
Behaviour & ecology
They hawk insects over lawns, water, and the high-tide line, then return to a mud cup under an eave, a jetty, or a boat-shed. Pairs are faithful to a site. A verandah that holds them has been chosen.
Voice
A thin, cheerful twitter in flight, and a softer contact note at the nest.
On the Peninsula
Yards, jetties, and wetlands right across the Peninsula. They disappear for a few winter weeks and return as if the house had been waiting.
Season
Spring through autumn. The return in late winter is a small ceremony.
Diet
Flying insects, taken on the wing.
Conservation
Secure.
Lore & resonance
The fork is a piece of sky the bird was allowed to keep. When swallows stitch the evening over a lawn, the day is being hemmed.
If you would attract them
Leave a mud-cup if one appears under the eave. A little wet soil after rain helps them build. Avoid spraying; they are the insecticide.
