Bahama Swallow

Tachycineta cyaneoviridisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Swallows (Hirundinidae)

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.

Bahama Swallow

Bahama Swallow: Medium-sized swallow with dark blue-green upperparts and cap extending below eye, and steel-blue wings, white chin, throat and underparts, and deeply forked tail. The bill, legs and feet are black. Swift, graceful flight, alternating rapid wing beats with long glides.

● Song: "chep", "chi-chep"

● Foraging & Feeding: Bahama Swallow: Feeds on flying insects caught on the wing, primarily in or around piney woods.

● Breeding & nesting: Bahama Swallow: Three white eggs are laid in a nest made of grass and leaves, lined with finer materials, and built in a tree, stump, or under a building eave. Incubation ranges from 13 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Bahama Swallow: Tree Swallow lacks white underwing linings and deeply forked tail.

Flight Pattern

Swift graceful flight alternating rapid wing beats with long glides.

Bahama Swallow Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Bahama Swallow: Casual to Florida Keys and south Florida mainland; occurs in the northern Bahamas during the summer, but ranges throughout the Bahamas and eastern Cuba at other times. Preferred habitats include islands with pine trees for breeding.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary to colonial

^PopulationUncommon to casual

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.6 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Bahama Swallow

Bahama Swallow

Flight Pattern