Scientific Name: Order:<\/strong> Family:<\/strong> Weighing in at 19-34 grams, the Cliff Swallow is a small bird with both adult females and males measuring 13 cm in length and flying through the sky with a wingspan of 28-30 centimeters – comparable to the size of a sparrow (All About Birds<\/a>). As with most birds, the light conditions in which you see it will affect the colours and patterns the human eye can identify. Under poor light, Cliff Swallows appear brown with dark-coloured throats and a white underbelly. When in good light, the observer can see that their backs are metallic, dark-blue with pale brown-orange rumps. Their faces are a rusty red with a bright white patch above their bill. There are no distinctively different identifying features between the female and male Cliff Swallow. However, the juveniles appear as messy adults with pale, rusty red faces and a dingy-looking breast. Cliff Swallows have a limited vocal repertoire with five distinctive vocalizations for signalling actions such as feeding, raising the alarm and mating (Loesche, Beecher & Stoddard, 1992<\/a>). Songs are reserved for activities related to breeding like courting and nesting. The Cliff Swallow sings a combination of squeaks and gutteral grating sounds in six second intervals. The most common Cliff Swallow call sounds like a soft chur<\/em>. Calls during foraging sound like a squeak, while calls alarming the rest colony about danger sound like a purr. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Petreochelidon pyrrhonota<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Passeriformes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Hirundinidae<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/files\/2022\/10\/305772391-720px.jpg\")
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Under ideal lighting conditions, adults have dark-blue metallic backs and pale brown rumps. Their head is rufous with a white forehead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The best time to find this bird is in the summer when they are swarming to hunt insects. They will likely be foraging in flocks close to fresh water, such as lakes, rivers, or wetlands. Key features which differentiate the Cliff Swallow from other common swallows in North America are their square tail and the pale brown-orange rump on their dark upper body (Sibley, 2016). They also tend to forage higher than other species, so turn your gaze high to the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\nVocalizations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n