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Habitats Upland, Urban and Suburban, Farmland, Wetland, Grassland. UK breeding birds 860,000 territories. Weight 16-25g. Wingspan 32-35cm. Swallows are small birds with dark, glossy-blue backs, red throats, pale underparts and long tail streamers. Find out more.
The Swallow can be found across Britain & Ireland and can be seen flying at speed just inches above its favoured grassland feeding habitat as it snatches its insect prey. UK Swallow have fluctuated sharply in recent decades, with declines seen in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland since about 2010.
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance.
Swallows are widespread and common birds of farmland and open pasture near water. They are agile fliers, feeding on flying insects while on the wing. Before they migrate back to their wintering grounds in Africa, they can be seen gathering to roost in wetlands, particularly reedbeds.
Where do swallows live? Swallows are found in open country, usually near water and farmland where flying insects are abundant. They also gather in restless flocks in autumn and can be seen collecting together on telephone wires, often with martins.
Swallows from the UK migrate to South Africa for the winter. They travel down through west France and east Spain into Morocco before crossing the Sahara Desert and Congo rainforest. Finally, they reach their destination of South Africa and Namibia. The overall journey takes around 6 weeks.
Swallows have long lived alongside human beings, nesting in man-made buildings such as barns (hence the official name ‘barn swallow’). They build a loosely made nest from grass lined with mud, often on a high beam.
