Cliff Swallow 410192 223978510 2008-07-06T20:09:34Z Thesis4Eva 2716527 /* External links */ wrong preposition {{Taxobox | name = Cliff Swallow | status = LC | image = Cliff_swallow_7427.jpg | image_width = 200px | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[bird|Aves]] | ordo = [[Passeriformes]] | familia = [[Hirundinidae]] | genus = ''[[Petrochelidon]]'' | species = '''''P. pyrrhonota''''' | binomial = ''Petrochelidon pyrrhonota'' | binomial_authority = [[Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot|Vieillot]], 1817 | synonyms = ''Petrochelidon lunifrons'' }} The '''Cliff Swallow''' (''Petrochelidon pyrrhonota'') is a member of the [[passerine]] [[bird]] family [[Hirundinidae]] — the swallows and martins. It breeds in [[North America]] and [[Mexico]], and is [[bird migration|migratory]], wintering in western [[South America]] from [[Venezuela]] southwards to northeast [[Argentina]]. This species is a very rare vagrant to western [[Europe]]. This bird averages 13 cm (5 inches) long with a tiny bill. The adult has an iridescent blue back and crown, brown wings and tail, and buff rump. The nape and forehead are white. The underparts are white except for a red face. The tail is square-ended. Young birds are essentially brown above and whitish below, except for the buff rump and dark face. The only confusion species is the closely related [[Cave Swallow]], which is richer in colour and has a cinnamon rump and forehead. Cliff Swallows breed in [[Group size measures|large colonies]]. They build conical mud nests and lay 3-6 eggs. The natural nest sites are on cliffs, preferably beneath overhangs, but as with the Eurasian [[House Martin]], man-made structures are now the principal locations for breeding. Female Cliff Swallows are known to lay eggs in and move previously laid eggs into the nests of other birds within the colony. This species has always been plentiful in the west of North America, where there are many natural sites, but the abundance in the east has varied. European settlement provided many new nest sites on buildings, but the population declined in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the supply of unpainted barns declined. There has been a subsequent revival as dams and bridges have provided suitable sites. These are the famous swallows that return from Villa Ventana, Argentina every year to the [[Mission San Juan Capistrano]] in [[California]] on (or around) [[March 19]]. Like all swallows and martins, Cliff Swallows subsist primarily on a diet of [[insect]]s which are caught in flight. ==References== * {{IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=52186|title=Petrochelidon pyrrhonota|downloaded=6 May 2006}} Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern ''Swallows and Martins of the World'' by Turner and Rose, ISBN 0-7470-3202-5 ==External links== * [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=5348 Cliff Swallow videos] on the Internet Bird Collection * [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i6120id.html Cliff Swallow - ''Petrochelidon pyrrhonota''] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter * [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Cliff_Swallow.html Cliff Swallow Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology * [http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/cliff_swallow_info.htm Cliff Swallow Information and Photos] - South Dakota Birds and Birding * [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=cliff+swallow&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Cliff Swallow photo gallery] VIREO <gallery perrow=3> Image:Cliff Swallow Santa Cruz.jpg|Cliff Swallow in [[Santa Cruz, California]] Image:Cliff_swallow_nests.jpg|Nests on cliff in [[Utah]] Image:Cliff Swallow nest.jpg|Nest in [[New Mexico]] Image:Cliff_Swallow_near_a_nest_at_Mono_Lake_Visitor_Center-680px.jpg|Nests at [[Mono Lake]] visitor center, [[California]] Image:Cliff_swallows_nests_Novato_California.jpg|Cliff swallows and nests in [[Novato, California|Novato]], [[California]] </gallery> <!--See a good Western Hemisphere RangeMap, maps, lists, etc at: "www.natureserve.org"(then 'InfoNatura')(A site for Latin Amer/So America, etc.)--> [[Category:Hirundinidae]] [[Category:Petrochelidon]] [[Category:Birds of North America|Swallow, Cliff]] [[Category:Native birds of Alaska|Swallow, Cliff]] [[Category:Birds of Baja Peninsula Mexico|Swallow, Cliff]] [[Category:Birds of South America|Swallow, Cliff]] [[Category:Birds of the Amazon Basin|Swallow, Cliff]] [[Category:Birds of the Cerrado|Swallow, Cliff]] [[Category:Birds of the Pantanal|Swallow, Cliff]] [[Category:Migratory birds (Western hemisphere)|Swallow, Cliff]] [[fr:Hirondelle à front blanc]] [[ja:サンショクツバメ]] [[pl:Jaskółka rdzawoszyja]]