Rocky Swallow - description, habitat, interesting facts

There are many swallows that are common in different climatic regions. Today we will consider the nondescript representative of the feathered tribe, which is called none other than a rocky swallow. By name you can understand that these birds prefer to live in gorges, on rocks and other places of this kind. They are often found in Europe nesting in tunnels near water sources. To date, experts have found that these birds are increasingly prefer to live in buildings next to a man.

Description

1. Birds are large in size, not very bright colored. They are rather nondescript than motley and eye-catching. The tail is wide enough, but shortened. At the tip there is a kind of fork, which is weakly expressed.
2. The upper part of the body is painted in brown tone with sandy inclusions. The lower section is light, closer to the pale yellow in the abdominal part and brownish in the area under the tail.
3. The head is colored brown, the same shade of the tail. The mouth is pale yellow, lightened.In the abdominal area there are ocher pigments. A distinctive feature is the presence of dark specks in the neck area.
4. Feathers on wings rounded, wide, may vary in length. Paws on the color of light brown shade, they are missing feathers. The beak is strong, pigmented by black. Individuals of male and female sex are almost the same, except that males are slightly larger.
5. Juveniles stand out slightly from the adult generation. The lower part of the body is pigmented with an ocher light tone, the chest is also light along with the neck. Under the tail there is a transverse pattern.
6. This species of swallows differs from itself in that it has a nondescript color of feathering. The tail is wide, there are spots of an oval format.
7. The specimens of the species under discussion are rather maneuverable, fast, and easy to fly. Start hunting near rocky terrain. But if there is no food, they can leave a little and fly away.
8. When a bird notices its prey, it hovers in the air at one place, turning its wings. It falls and rises, then grabs food. Now consider the dimensional features.The weight is 15–24 g., And the hull length is 15 cm. With a wingspan of 33 cm.

Habitat

1. Presented swallows mainly live in mountainous areas, which are located in the south of Eurasia. Such places are spread from the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula to the northeastern part of China.
2. Also considered individuals live in Europe. Nesting sites can reach the northern regions of France, Austria and Germany. In addition, such birds are found on the territory of the Greater Caucasus.
3. The considered species mainly lives on the territory of the mountains of southern Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The nesting of such birds often occurs in Tuva and Altai. Swallows also nest in southern, western and central regions of Mongolia.
4. Individuals that predominantly live in the southern parts prefer to stay sedentary. Birds that live in the Northern regions are sent to Africa for wintering, to the south-east of Iran, the Arabian Peninsula and India.

Lifestyle

1. In usual habitats, swallows mainly inhabit the gorges of the outcropping cliffs and mountain slopes.To the nesting places, the considered individuals arrive earlier than the rest of the birds. Most often this occurs in April. The settlement takes place in small groups or in pairs.
2. Such swallows, under no circumstances form colonies. Birds are trying to build housing in virtually inaccessible places. In this case, the nests are always protected by sheer stones and rocks. They can also be located in caves and niches. The nests themselves resemble the same dwellings as those of the village brethren.
3. Only rocky swallows do not use animal hair, grass and stems in building a nest. Therefore, homes are obtained completely fragile. They do not last longer than one season. The swallows line the bottom of the dwelling from the leaves of the cereal plants, followed by down and feathers.
4. At a time in the clutch you can find no more than 5 eggs. They have a white color with numerous dark patches. After 20 days, young are born. A month later, he was already on the wing.

Rocky swallows mainly feed on various insects. Such birds have a rather extensive habitat. Individuals are widely distributed, therefore not endangered.These swallows are distinguished by the fact that they lead a rather non-standard lifestyle. They live in rocky places all the time.