Violet-green Swallow
Tachycineta thalassina

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Tachycineta

Audio for Species

Call
Song
Call/Song

from Macaulay Library

Species Related Links

Additional Violet-green Swallow Pictures

Description

Length: 4.7 in (12 cm) Weight: 0.5 oz (14 g) Wingspan: 10.6 in (27 cm)

As most swallows the bill is tiny. They have green upperparts and white underparts. A faint violet band on the nape and violet on the upper tail coverts. There are white patches on side of the rump. A white area extends behind and over eye on the male. The tail is forked. Big bulging eyes. Female duller than male and the juvenile is dull brown above and may have hint of a gray breast band.

Habitat, Range, and Feeding

Their breeding habitat is open woodlands near water. They nest in cillf cavities, nest boxes, or in a tree cavity, which they line with twigs, rootlets, and straw; the cup is lined with feathers. They nest in small colonies up to 24 pairs. The clutch size is 4 to 6 eggs, that are white. The incubation period is 13 to 14 days and they fledge in 16 to 24 days. The female does most of the feeding, with the male providing under 15%.

They aerial forage for flying insects, and swallow them while the birds are in flight.