Editing Barn swallow (section)

== Description ==
[[File:Barn Swallow ebird data map.png|thumb|Reported range from observations submitted to [[eBird]] shows the migration pattern of the species{{leftlegend|#0cfc0c|Year-round range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#fafa11|Summer range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#21fafa|Winter range|outline=gray}}|alt=See caption]]

The adult male barn swallow of the nominate subspecies ''H. r. rustica'' is {{convert|17|–|19|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long including {{convert|2|–|7|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} of elongated outer tail feathers. It has a wingspan of {{convert|32|–|34.5|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} and weighs {{convert|16|–|22|g|oz|frac=16|abbr=on}}. 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.<ref name="BWP">{{cite book|editor1-last = Snow |editor1-first = David |editor2-last = Perrins |editor2-first=Christopher M |title = The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise edition (2 volumes) |publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 1998 |location = Oxford |isbn = 978-0-19-854099-1}} p1061–1064</ref> 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 paler. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts. It also lacks the long tail streamers of the adult.<ref name="Turner">{{cite book |title=Swallows & Martins: An Identification Guide and Handbook |last=Turner |first=Angela K |author2=Rose, Chris |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-395-51174-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/swallowsmartinsi00turn }} p164–169</ref>

Although both sexes sing, female song was only recently described.<ref name="Wilkins2020">{{Cite journal|last1=Wilkins|first1=Matthew R.|last2=Odom|first2=Karan J.|last3=Benedict|first3=Lauryn|last4=Safran|first4=Rebecca J.|date=October 2020|title=Analysis of female song provides insight into the evolution of sex differences in a widely studied songbird|journal=Animal Behaviour|language=en|volume=168|pages=69–82|doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.07.018|s2cid=221472750|doi-access=free}}</ref> (See below for details about song.) Calls include ''witt'' or ''witt-witt'' and a loud ''splee-plink'' when excited or trying to chase intruders away from the nest.<ref name= BWP/> The [[alarm call]]s include a sharp ''siflitt'' for predators like cats and a ''flitt-flitt'' for [[bird of prey|birds of prey]] like the [[Hobby (bird)|hobby]].<ref name = "Mullarney"/> This species is fairly quiet on the wintering grounds.<ref name = "Hilty"/>

The distinctive combination of a red face and blue breast band renders the adult barn swallow easy to distinguish from the African ''Hirundo'' species and from the [[welcome swallow]] (''Hirundo neoxena'') with which its range overlaps in [[Australasia]].<ref name = "Turner"/> In Africa the short tail streamers of the juvenile barn swallow invite confusion with juvenile [[red-chested swallow]] (''Hirundo lucida''), but the latter has a narrower breast band and more white in the tail.<ref name= "Barlow"/>