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Cliff Swallow

Petrochelidon pyrrhonotaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Swallows (Hirundinidae)

Cliff Swallow Portrait
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General

Cliff Swallow: Small, stocky swallow with dark blue-gray upperparts, pale orange-brown rump and buff underparts. Forehead is white or buff while throat and sides of face are orange-brown. Tail is dark and squared. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is duller.

Range and Habitat

Cliff Swallow: Breeds from Alaska, Ontario, and Nova Scotia southward throughout most of U.S. except the southeast; spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include open country near buildings or cliffs, lakeshores, and marshes.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"churr", "zarp"

Interesting Facts

  • The Cliff Swallow was first described in 1817 by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, a French ornithologist.
  • Females are known to lay eggs in its own nest and then carry one of the eggs in its bill and put it in another female's nest.
  • When young leave their nests they congregate in large groups called creches. A pair of swallows can find its own young in the creche primarily by voice.
  • A group of swallows has many collective nouns, including a "gulp", "herd", "kettle", "richness", and "sord" of swallows.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Cliff Swallow
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
Length5.5 Inches
Wingspan12 Inches

Cliff Swallow

Cliff Swallow: Small, stocky swallow, dark blue-gray upperparts, pale orange-brown rump, buff underparts. Forehead is white or buff while throat, sides of face are orange-brown. Crown is blue-black, bill is short and black. Tail is dark and squared. Legs and feet are gray. Catches insects in flight.

● Song: "churr", "zarp"

● Foraging & Feeding: Cliff Swallow: Diet consists almost entirely of insects, but will occasionally gorge on berries; forages in flight.

● Breeding & nesting: Cliff Swallow: Three to six brown marked, creamy white to light pink eggs are laid in a gourd-shaped nest made of mud, lined with feathers, and built on a sheltered cliff or under an eave. Incubation ranges from 14 to 16 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Cliff Swallow: Cave Swallow has darker forehead and paler throat.

Flight Pattern

Soars on thermals and updrafts., Swift graceful flight with slow deep wing beats.
Cliff Swallow Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Cliff Swallow: Breeds from Alaska, Ontario, and Nova Scotia southward throughout most of U.S. except the southeast; spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include open country near buildings or cliffs, lakeshores, and marshes.
BreedingMonogamous, Large colonies
PopulationExpanding
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.8 Ounces