Hill swallow
In the hills of southern India
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Hirundo
Species:
H. domicola
Binomial name
Hirundo domicola
Jerdon, 1841

The hill swallow (Hirundo domicola) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in southern India and Sri Lanka. It is resident apart from some local seasonal movements. This bird is associated with coasts, but is increasingly spreading to forested uplands.[2] It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Pacific swallow.[3]

Description

Hill swallow, painting by John Gould

This species is a small swallow at 13 cm (5.1 in). It has a blue back with browner wings and tail, a red face and throat, and dusky underparts. It differs from the barn swallow and the closely related welcome swallow in its shorter and less forked tail.[2][4]

Behaviour

Reproduction

The hill swallow builds a neat cup-shaped nest, constructed with mud pellets collected in the beak, under a cliff ledge or on man-made structures such as a building, bridge or tunnel. The nest is lined with softer material, and the clutch is up to four eggs. Detailed studies on the breeding ecology of the species were conducted in Silent Valley National Park and Muthikkulam reserve forests of Kerala.[3]

Feeding

It is similar in behaviour to other aerial insectivores, such as other swallows and the unrelated swifts. It is a fast flyer and feeds on insects, especially flies, while airborne.[2]

Hill swallow

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Hirundo domicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Turner, Angela K; Rose, Chris (1989). Swallows & martins: an identification guide and handbook. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-51174-7.
  3. 1 2 Balakrishnan, Peroth (May 2010). "Breeding biology of the Hill Swallow (Hirundo domicola) in Western Ghats, India". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 107 (2): 109–115.
  4. ↑ Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol; Inskipp, Tim (2002). Pocket Guide to Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. London: Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-7136-6304-9.
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