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Tree Swallow

Tachycineta bicolor ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: HIRUNDINIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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Tree Swallow Photo

© Marie Read

A common swallow of marshes and open fields, the Tree Swallow is a ready inhabitant of nest boxes.

Read Cornell Lab of Ornithology's blog, Round Robin

Appearance

Swallows
Swallows
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Small slender songbird.
  • White underneath and shiny blue-green on top.
  • Small bill.
  • Long wings.

Female Description

Yearling female brown on back with faint greenish sheen and some iridescent greenish blue feathers. Underparts white, sometimes with faint brown band across breast.

Immature Description

Juvenile sooty gray on back, without trace of blue. Underparts dull white. Dirty brown band across chest.

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Tree Swallow Range Map
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Similar Species

  • Violet-Green Swallow similar, but with emerald-green back, white cheeks extending above the eye, and white sides of the rump.
  • Bank Swallow with distinct brown band across chest, not the dirty wash of a juvenile Tree Swallow.
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow always with brown throat.