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Welcome SwallowAlternative name: "House Swallow*", "Australian Swallow" Aboriginal name: "baringbah" Size: 14-15 cm Weight: 15 g (average) |
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Similar species |
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SUBSECTIONS:
Classification
Distribution
Sightings
Photos
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
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Taxonomy, classification |
See Welcome Swallow
at Wikipedia 
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
(for details refer to a field guide) |
Click here to display information on habitat,
range and finding this species
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Sightings |
Welcome Swallows, race "neoxena", visited us regularly where we lived in 2003-2006, 20 km south of Narrabri, NSW. A couple stayed there to raise their young under the roof of a barn.
Click here to display more sighting
information
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Photos |
Race "neoxena"
Frontal view of a Welcome Swallow
[Eulah Creek, NSW, February 2011]
Lateral view of a Welcome Swallow
[Eulah Creek, NSW, February 2011]
Welcome Swallow with its head turned
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2007]
This near-dorsal view of a Welcome Swallow shows particularly well
the blue-black sheen of the plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, June 2012]
Dorsal view of a Welcome Swallow
[Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2006]
Small flock of Welcome Swallows resting and preening
[Goran Lake, NSW, June 2012]
Welcome Swallow in flight seen from underneath (photo by R. Druce)
Welcome Swallow in flight (right); on the left one can also see a
Fairy Martin
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2010]
Feeding time for two young Welcome Swallows, with one of their
parents approaching from the left with something it its bill
[Yarrie Lake near Wee Waa, NSW, October 2011]
Adult Welcome Swallow (right) with one of two chicks on their first
outing, two hours after fledging
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2013]
Family of Welcome Swallows preening (photo courtesy of R. Druce)
Close-up near-lateral view of an immature Welcome Swallow
(photo courtesy of R. Druce)
Young Welcome Swallow waiting to be fed
[O'Brien's Creek, Narrabri Lake, NSW, October 2010]
Welcome Swallow chick on its first outing when the photo was
taken; later that night all four chicks return to their nest
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2012]
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Breeding information |
| Breeding season: Jul - Jan | Eggs: 4 - 6 | Incubation period: 14 - 16 days | Fledging age: 14 days |
Welcome Swallows can, given the right conditions, breed any time of the year. They can nest in colonies, but also on their own. Pairs often have more than one clutch per breeding season. The nest and eggs shown above where photographed at the start of August, that is winter in our region, when the birds were getting off to an early start. A pair nesting in an empty water tank at our neighbour's place at the same time tells us that this is not a singular occurrence. Male and female share the incubation and feeding duties. During the breeding season adult birds will roost on or in the nest.
| Nest building: Female & male | Incubation: Female & male | Dependent care: Female & male |
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Nest |
"bungobittah", "malunna" = Nest [Aboriginal] |
| Type: Bowl | Material: Mud with feather lining | Height above ground: Various |
Nests can be at heights of up to several metres, but may also be attached to surfaces of culverts that are below ground level.
The roof or awning of a home or small business loans the Welcome Swallow a great place to build a nest. During the summers of 2006/07 and 2007/08 we had a nest under the awning of the roof of our home 20 km east of Narrabri. This nest was re-used annually, until the 2011/12 breeding season. No significant changes were made to the clay bowl; only new lining was used. Duck feathers, mostly of Australian Wood Ducks are used, which are a very effective insulation material.
Welcome Swallow feeding four chicks
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2007]
View from the other side of the Welcome Swallow nest
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2007]
Curious Welcome Swallow chicks peeking over the rim of the nest
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2007]
This Welcome Swallow chick was the first to start sitting on the edge
of the nest
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2011]
Here a Welcome Swallow inspecting an old nest in the middle of winter
[Eulah Creek, NSW, July 2010]
This is a more "avant garde"-style Welcome Swallow nest (photo courtesy
of C. Hayne)
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Eggs |
"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "nooluk" "pateena" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay] |
| Size: 19 x 13 mm | Colour: Pale creamy with light-brown speckles | Shape: Tapered oval |
View (with the help of a mirror) into a neatly feather-lined nest with
four eggs in it; all four chicks were raised successfully
[Eulah Creek, NSW, August 2012]
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Behaviour |
| Social behaviour: Communal | Mobility: Migratory/ dispersive/ sedentary | Elementary unit: Pair/flock |
Welcome Swallows will leave an area during mild to severe night frosts. They can thereby serve as a good indicator for the severity of a winter to come. If they stay around, temperatures will usually not drop below -2 to -3 C.
Welcome Swallows on a rockshelf at the end of winter 2012, possibly
congregating to migrate to the north
[Bundjalung NP,
NSW, February 2012]
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Food, Diet |
Like all other swallows known to us, Welcome Swallows are insect hunters. They feed in-flight on small insects.
