Barn swallow

Hirundo rustica Today, 3 October

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

now leaving 1 day

leaving Bird summer visitor

The whole year

25 August – 4 October

dates recorded for this region, not shifted from anywhere

Sitting the year outGetting readyYoung aboutYoung leaving

Where to look

Stables, boat sheds and any open building it can fly through; mud nest on a beam.

Worth knowing

Two broods, sometimes three, in the same nest — so a nest that looks finished in June is usually refilled by early July. Closing the barn door after the birds have built is what kills most Croatian swallow nests, not predators.

Look it up

photos, sightings and recordings, off this site

iNaturalist — photos and where people are seeing it Wikipedia — Hirundo rustica xeno-canto — recordings of the call

Regions

where this species is on the list

Dalmatian coastKvarner and IstriaVelebit and the DinaridesSlavonia and the Pannonian plainTukhlia, Ukrainian Carpathians

Phase by phase

dates as they fall in the region chosen above

Phase	When	Length	What it means
away for the winter	5 October – 11 April	189 days	Not here at all. The birds are on the wintering grounds, thousands of kilometres south.
arriving	12 April – 30 April	19 days	Returning from the wintering grounds; the first birds are ahead of the peak.
building	1 May – 14 May	14 days	Nest, burrow or den under construction, or being lined out.
on eggs	15 May – 29 May	15 days	Clutch laid and being incubated, or buried and left to the sun.
raising young	30 May – 19 June	21 days	Dependent young in the nest, den or burrow, being fed.
young have left	20 June – 24 August	66 days	Young out of the nest or den, but still fed and followed by the adults.
leaving	25 August – 4 October	41 days	Leaving for the wintering grounds; stragglers run weeks behind.

Other birds in this region

Black storkCommon cuckooCommon ravenCommon swiftEuropean robinGreat spotted woodpeckerGreat titTawny owlWhite stork

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