Barn Swallow

Description:

Very sleek swallow with a blue black back, a cinnamon belly and a reddish brown chin. White spots on long forked tail. Female is same but slightly duller in color. Babies are similar with a tan belly, chin and shorter tail.

Habitat:

Live in Urban areas in New Mexico. Barn Swallows rarely glide in flight, so wings are always flapping and they grab drinks of water from wet leaves and takes a bath through lawn sprinklers. Nest is often made of mud often using 1,000 beak loads, usually nests in barns but here in the city they will attach the nest above door ways or on stucco buildings that provide some shelter such as under a porch.

Notes:

I watch the swallows in the summer at Lassetter Park and they do indeed drink on the fly. They skim the grass at the park getting a drink after a rain or the sprinklers have been on. Information came from Birds of New Mexico Field Guide by Stan Tekiela