Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758
The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, belonging to the family Hirundinidae in the order Passeriformes. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 17.91 g (up to 19 g) and a wingspan of 32 cm.
Quick facts about the barn swallow
An aerial invertivore at the carnivore trophic level, it is associated with human-modified land and has a geographic range of 51.7 million km². It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch (up to 5) with 1.8 clutches per year, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 17.9 g – 19 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 32 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 13.5 years – 16 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 15 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.5 – 5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.8src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the barn swallow?
Photos of the barn swallow
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Where does the barn swallow live?
Not recorded
What is the barn swallow?
The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. In Anglophone Europe, it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only member of family Hirundinidae called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".
There are eight subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Two subspecies (H. r. savignii and H. r. transitiva) have fairly restricted ranges in the Nile valley and eastern Mediterranean, respectively. The other six are more widespread, with winter ranges covering much of the Southern Hemisphere.
The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally nests in man-made structures and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight. This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by humans; this acceptance was reinforced in the past by superstitions regarding the bird and its nest. There are frequent cultural references to the barn swallow in literary and religious works due to both its living in close proximity to humans and its annual migration. The barn swallow is the national bird of Austria and Estonia.
From the Wikipedia article “Barn swallow” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barn_swallow&oldid=1380253423), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the barn swallow sound like?
Is the barn swallow endangered?
The barn swallow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the barn swallow classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyHirundinidae
- genusHirundo
- SpeciesHirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Chelidon procne, Chelidon rustica, Hirundo americana
Other names and names in other languages (183)
- BASWEnglish
- Christmas birdEnglish
- Common swallowEnglish
- Eurasian swallowEnglish
- European swallowEnglish
- European swallowEnglish
- SwallowEnglish
- SwallowEnglish
- BoereswaelAfrikaans
- Europese SwaelAfrikaans
- SchwalbeAlbanian
- خطافArabic
- خطاف المخازنArabic
- سنونو المخازنArabic
- سنونو شائعArabic
- عصفور الجنة المخازنArabic
- Volandrina golroyaAragonese
- অসমীয়াAssamese
- AndarinaAsturian
- andulinaAsturian
- Kənd qaranquşuAzerbaijani
- Ҡара ҡарлуғасBashkir
- RaachschwoimBavarian
- Вясковая ластаўкаBelarusian
- Селска лястовицаBulgarian
- পাতি আবাবিলBangla
- Gwennili-siminalBreton
- oreneta comunaCatalan
- Oreneta vulgarCatalan
- Oronella ComunaCatalan
- ᏧᏗᏆᏅᏥCherokee
- Ял чӗкеҫӗChuvash
- Ял чĕкеçĕChuvash
- vlaštovka obecnáCzech
- LiwkòwnicaKashubian
- gwennolWelsh
- GwenoliaidWelsh
- landsvaleDanish
- HausschwalbeGerman
- GabelschwalbeGerman
- RauchschwalbeGerman
- JaskolickaLower Sorbian
- ΧελιδόνιGreek
- ΣταβλοχελίδονοGreek
- KamphirundoEsperanto
- kampa hirundoEsperanto
- GolondrinaSpanish
- Golondrina bermejaSpanish
- Golondrina Cola de TijeraSpanish
- Golondrina comúnSpanish
- Golondrina horquilladaSpanish
- Golondrina tijeretaSpanish
- Golondrina tijeritaSpanish
- suitsupääsukeEstonian
- Enara arruntBasque
- Enara arruntaBasque
- AndorinaExtremaduran
- چلچلهPersian
- پرستوی معمولیPersian
- haarapääskyFinnish
- SvalaFaroese
- Hirondelle rustiqueFrench
- Hirondelle de cheminéeFrench
- hirondelle des grangesFrench
- HüsswaalkNorthern Frisian
- CisileFriulian
- BoereswelWestern Frisian
- Hirondellegcf
- fáinleogScottish Gaelic
- gobhlain-ghaoitheScottish Gaelic
- Gobhlan gaoitheScottish Gaelic
- gobhlan-gaoitheScottish Gaelic
- AndoriñaGalician
- Gollan geayeeManx
- Mbyju'i jetapaGuarani
- Irondèl Ke LongHaitian Creole
- Daurska lastavicaSerbian (Latin)
- סנונית רפתותHebrew
- סנונית הרפתותHebrew
- अबाबीलHindi
- lastavicaCroatian
- Lastavica pokućarkaCroatian
- ŁastojčkaUpper Sorbian
- füsti fecskeHungarian
- Գյուղական ծիծեռնակArmenian
- Layang-layang apiIndonesian
- Layang-layang AsiaIndonesian
- LandsvalaIcelandic
- RondineItalian
- Rondine comuneItalian
- ツバメJapanese
- სოფლის მერცხალიGeorgian
- tulugarnaqKalaallisut
- ПцӀащхъуэKabardian
- Аал харачхайыkjh
- Ауыл қарлығашыKazakh
- Қыстау қарлығашыKazakh
- 제비Korean
- HacîreşkKurdish
- GwennelCornish
- Sisampamemakwn
- StallschmuewelLuxembourgish
- KamäinschmuebelLuxembourgish
- SchaarschtechschmuewelLuxembourgish
- чархи чубарукLezghian
- SchwalgLimburgish
- Rondolalld
- šelmeninė kregždėLithuanian
- bezdelīgaLatvian
- вараксимMari
- ЛастовицаMacedonian
- Селска ластовицаMacedonian
- селска ластовичкаMacedonian
- വയൽക്കോതിക്കത്രികMalayalam
- വയല്്ക്കോതി കത്രികപ്പക്ഷിMalayalam
- ĦuttafaMaltese
- Асрын хараацайMongolian
- माळभिंगरीMarathi
- Burung Sualo ApiMalay
- SwalweLow German
- boerenzwaluwDutch
- låvesvaleNorwegian Nynorsk
- Héthondenrm
- IrondaOccitan
- ZhaashaawanibiisiOjibwa
- SauchiPapiamento
- SouchiPapiamento
- Souchi KampesinoPapiamento
- SuarchiPapiamento
- SwalchiPapiamento
- Swalchi CampesinoPapiamento
- TsubamePalauan
- dymówkaPolish
- RóndolaPiedmontese
- andorinha-das-chaminésPortuguese
- Andorinha-de-bandoPortuguese
- RandulinaRomansh
- PitsagoyRomany
- rândunicăRomanian
- Rândunică de câmpRomanian
- или касаткаRussian
- деревенская ласточкаRussian
- Ластівка дымницяRusyn
- Кылыс хараҥаччытаYakut
- SwallaeScots
- SpálfuNorthern Sami
- beštorNorthern Sami
- láhtospálfuNorthern Sami
- suorrespálfuNorthern Sami
- lastovička obyčajnáSlovak
- kmečka lastovkaSlovenian
- NyenganyengaShona
- LefokotsaneSouthern Sotho
- DallëndysheAlbanian
- dallandyshja bishtgërshanëAlbanian
- dallëndyshja bishtgërshërëAlbanian
- Seoska lastaSerbian
- Сеоска ластаSerbian
- Сеоска ласта - Seoska lastaSerbian
- RundineSardinian
- InkonjaneSwati
- SwoalkeSaterland Frisian
- ladusvalaSwedish
- Mbayuwayu wa UlayaSwahili
- தகைவிலான்Tamil
- தரையில்லாக் குருவிTamil
- தகைவிலான்/தைலான் குருவிTamil
- นกนางแอ่นบ้านThai
- Oba garlawajyTurkmen
- İs KırlangıcıTurkish
- kir kirlangiciTurkish
- PeolaneTswana
- PêolwaneTswana
- NyenghaTsonga
- Суур хараачыгайыTuvinian
- Ластівка сільськаUkrainian
- Сільська ластівкаUkrainian
- RóndeneVenetian
- Nhạn bụng trắngVietnamese
- ZwolmWest Flemish
- Cuzamyua
- ZwalumZeelandic
- 家燕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the barn swallow
Other species in the same genus Hirundo.
Wire-tailed swallow
Hirundo smithii
Tahiti swallow
Hirundo tahitica
Ethopian swallow
Hirundo aethiopica
Red-chested swallow
Hirundo lucida
Welcome swallow
Hirundo neoxena
Angola swallow
Hirundo angolensis
CompareBarn swallow vs Wire-tailed swallowBarn swallow vs Tahiti swallowBarn swallow vs Ethopian swallowBarn swallow vs Red-chested swallow
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the barn swallow?
The barn swallow is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, in the family Hirundinidae.
How heavy is a barn swallow?
An adult Barn swallow has a body mass of 17.91 g, with up to 19 g reported. Its wingspan is 32 cm.
What does the barn swallow eat?
The barn swallow is an invertivore, placed at the carnivore trophic level, and forages in the air.
Is the barn swallow endangered?
No. The barn swallow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a barn swallow live?
The barn swallow has a lifespan of 13.5 years, with up to 16 years reported.
How many eggs does a barn swallow lay?
The barn swallow lays 4.5 eggs per clutch, up to 5, with 1.8 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 15 days.
Is the barn swallow migratory?
Yes. The barn swallow is migratory, with a geographic range of 51.7 million km².
Who named the barn swallow?
The scientific name Hirundo rustica was given by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/barn-swallow
“Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/barn-swallow.
@misc{barn_swallow_2026,
title = {Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/barn-swallow},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}