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Hirundo rustica
It 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." There is a line of white spots across the outer end of the upper 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 more pale. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts. It also lacks the long tail streamers of the adult. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts, a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings. The Barn Swallow is a bird of open country which normally uses man-made structures to breed and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight. This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by man. The Barn Swallow is the national bird of Estonia. A very hyperactive bird, I have always seen them flying, very difficult to click them sitting.
The preferred habitat of the Barn Swallow is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows and farmland, preferably with nearby water. This swallow avoids heavily wooded or precipitous areas and densely built-up locations. Seen at Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary.
Details from Wikipedia.
Yes Nicole the first one has whitish throat, maybe Juvenile. I guess we do have House Martins. I have seen them at a marshland with plenty of fields around.
It has a whitish throat, no?
Do you guys have House Martins?
Lovely catch though. You seldom get them sitting still :)
Hey Benjamin,
Thanks for your suggestion, but as per Wiki: The Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, is a migratory passerine bird that breeds in North America and winters in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe. Whereas I have spotted it in India. Kindly reconsider your suggestion again.