Friday's Foto

Barn Swallow, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

Iridescent blue above, reddish orange throat and long, deeply forked tail, Barn Swallows are easily separated from our other common swallows. Like most swallows, the majority of this specie's diet consists of flies. They prefer semi-open habitat with water nearby. One of the few birds that has adapted well to humans, they construct their mud nests almost exclusively on man-made structures. Until I began writing this post, I hadn't realized that the Barn Swallow's range was not restricted to just the New World. This range map shows their worldwide breeding and non-breeding range.