Quantcast

Violet-green Swallow

Tachycineta thalassinaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Swallows (Hirundinidae)

Violet-green Swallow Portrait_2
  Copyright 2002-2007 Whatbird.com
Click here for licensing information Splitbar

General

Violet-green Swallow: Small swallow with dark, metallic green upperparts and iridescent purple rump. Face, sides of rump, and underparts are white. Tail is slightly forked. Female is duller.

Range and Habitat

Violet-green Swallow: Breeds from Alaska east to South Dakota, south to southern California and Texas. Spends winters mainly south of the U.S.-Mexico border, but a few winter in southern California. Preferred habitats include forests, wooded foothills, mountains, and suburban areas.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"dee-chip", "tweet"

Interesting Facts

  • The Violet-green Swallow was first described in 1827 by William Swainson, a British naturalist.
  • A pair was observed assisting a pair of Western Bluebirds in raising young. The swallows guarded the nest and tended the bluebird nestlings, and after they fledged, used the nest site for their own young.
  • A group of swallows has many collective nouns, including a "gulp", "herd", "kettle", "richness", and "sord" of swallows.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

Splitbar
Range Map for Violet-green Swallow
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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 Tachycineta thalassina
Length5 - 5.25 Inches
Wingspan11.5 Inches

Violet-green Swallow

Violet-green Swallow: Small swallow, dark, metallic green upperparts, iridescent purple rump. Face, sides of rump, underparts are white. Tail is slightly forked. Black bill, legs and feet. Swift, graceful flight, alternates several quick wing beats with long glides. Soars on thermals and updrafts.

● Song: "dee-chip", "tweet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Violet-green Swallow: Diet mainly consists of leafhoppers, beetles, wasps, ants, flies, and bees. Forages in flight, often above the tree canopy; occasionally feeds on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Violet-green Swallow: Four to six white eggs are laid in a grass-and-feather nest built in a woodpecker or natural cavity, under an eave of a building, or in a nest box. Incubation ranges from 13 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Violet-green Swallow: Tree Swallow lacks white cheeks and rump.

Flight Pattern

Swift graceful flight.
Violet-green Swallow Body Illustration_2
● Range & Habitat: Violet-green Swallow: Breeds from Alaska east to South Dakota, south to southern California and Texas. Spends winters mainly south of the U.S.-Mexico border, but a few winter in southern California. Preferred habitats include forests, wooded foothills, mountains, and suburban areas.
BreedingMonogamous
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.6 Ounces