The violet-green swallow is a small North American passerine bird in the swallow family. These aerial insectivores are distributed along the west coast from Alaska to Mexico, extending as far east as Montana and Texas. With an appearance very similar to the tree swallow, these individuals can be identified by the white rump side-patches that appear to separate their green back and purple tail. Violet-green swallows are secondary cavity nesters, found in a number of habitats including deciduous and coniferous forest. In addition to nesting in tree holes within these habitats, they are also widely observed nesting in the cracks of large cliffs.
Image: Tachycineta thalassina San Luis Obispo, California, USA male 8 (1)
Image: Tachycineta thalassina San Luis Obispo, California, USA female 8 (2)
Back and rump details
Male in California, U.S.
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used as the common name for Hirundo rustica in the UK and Ireland. Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 19 genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory.
Swallow
The bill of the sand martin is typical for the family, being short and wide.
The lesser striped swallow is a partial migrant within Africa.
A Northern Rough-winged Swallow photographed in central Maine, the northeastern limit of the species' breeding range.
