I saw these two barn swallows standing on the top of the shed of a small boat. I was afraid of disturbing them. So I stood on the slope of the disembarkation place, hiding behind the platform of the pier and taking photos of them secretly. I feel like a paparazzi. LOL! The barn swallow is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The breeding success of the male is related to the length of the tail streamers, with longer streamers being more attractive to the female. Males with longer tail feathers are generally longer-lived and more disease resistant. The barn swallow is the national bird of Austria and Estonia.
我看到這兩隻家燕停在一條小船的船棚上，我怕驚擾了牠們，站在下船處的斜坡上，躲在碼頭後邊，偷照牠們 ，感覺好像狗仔隊一樣，LOL! 家燕是世界上分佈最廣泛的燕子，在歐洲，亞洲，非洲和美洲都看得到它。雄性的繁殖成功與燕尾的長度有關，較長的燕尾對雌性更具吸引力。尾羽較長的雄性通常壽命更長，更耐病。家燕是奧地利和愛沙尼亞的國鳥。
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Notes 筆記
- The barn swallow is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
- The adult male barn swallow has steel blue upperparts and a rufous forehead, chin and throat, which are separated from the off-white underparts by a broad dark blue breast band. The outer tail feathers are elongated, giving the distinctive deeply forked “swallow tail”. The female is similar in appearance to the male, but the tail streamers are shorter, the blue of the upperparts and breast band is less glossy, and the underparts paler. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts.
- The preferred habitat of the barn swallow is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows and farmland, preferably with nearby water.
- The barn swallow is not a particularly fast flier. The barn swallow typically feeds in open areas above shallow water or the ground often following animals, humans or farm machinery to catch disturbed insects, but it will occasionally pick prey items from the water surface, walls and plants. In the breeding areas, large flies make up around 70% of the diet, with aphids also a significant component.
- The male barn swallow returns to the breeding grounds before the females and selects a nest site. The breeding success of the male is related to the length of the tail streamers, with longer streamers being more attractive to the female. Males with longer tail feathers are generally longer-lived and more disease resistant.
- Both sexes defend the nest, but the male is particularly aggressive and territorial. Once established, pairs stay together to breed for life, but extra-pair copulation is common, making this species genetically polygamous, despite being socially monogamous. Males guard females actively to avoid being cuckolded. Males may use deceptive alarm calls to disrupt extrapair copulation attempts toward their mates.
- As its name implies, the barn swallow typically nests inside accessible buildings such as barns and stables, or under bridges and wharves.
- The neat cup-shaped nest is constructed by both sexes using mud, although more often by the female.
- The barn swallow is the national bird of Austria and Estonia.
- 家燕是世界上分佈最廣泛的燕子，在歐洲，亞洲，非洲和美洲都看得到它。
- 成年雄性家燕有鋼藍色的上半身和紅褐色的額頭、下巴和喉嚨，有寬的深藍色胸帶區分灰白色的下半身。外尾羽偏長，形成獨特的深叉“燕尾”。雌性的外觀與雄性相似，但尾巴較短，上部的藍色和胸帶的光澤較暗，下部的顏色較淺。雛鳥是棕褐色，臉是紅褐色，下半部較白。
- 家燕的首選棲息地是植被稀少的開闊地帶，例如牧場，草地和農田，最好是附近有水。
- 家燕並不是飛得特別快。家燕通常在淺水或地面上方的空曠地區覓食，通常跟著動物、人或農業機械來捕獲受這些人或物攪擾的昆蟲，但有時會在水面、牆壁和植物上採食獵物。在繁殖區，70％吃大果蠅，蚜蟲也是食物的重要部分。
- 雄性家燕比雌性燕子更早返回繁殖地並選擇巢穴。雄性的繁殖成功與燕尾的長度有關，較長的燕尾對雌性更具吸引力。尾羽較長的雄性通常壽命更長，更耐病。
- 雄性和雌性都會捍衛巢穴，但是雄性更具有侵略性和領土性。一旦成對，它們會生活在一起終生繁殖，但是與其它對交配也很常見，儘管它們在社會上是社交單配偶一夫一妻制，但從遺傳學上來看仍是一夫多妻的。雄性積極地保護雌性，以免被戴綠帽。雄性可能會使用欺騙性的警報叫聲來破壞別的燕對自己伴侶的試圖交配。
- 顧名思義，家燕通常築巢在容易進入的建築物內，例如穀倉和馬廄，或者在橋樑和碼頭下。
- 整齊杯子形狀用泥做的巢，是由雌雄兩性建造的，但大多數情況下是由雌性造的。
- 家燕是奧地利和愛沙尼亞的國鳥。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Barn swallow
- All about birds: Barn Swallow
Birds Posts 鳥的帖子