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Swallows and Martins
Order:
Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
89 species
Open habitats worldwide.
12-23 cm; bill short, broad-gaped, flat; neck short; body slender; wings long, pointed; legs short; feet small but strong.
Aerial insects, in one species fruits taken especially during migration and winter.
Colonial or solitary cavity-nesters; sexes similar in most spp., some with distinct juvenile plumage; 3-7 eggs; monogamous; biparental care.
Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor calling
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis calling
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica calling
Banbura, J. and P. Zielinski. 1998. Timing of breeding, clutch size and double-broodedness in Barn Swallows, Hirundo rustica. Ornis Fenn. 75:177-183.
Barber, C. A. and R. J. Robertson. 1998. Homing ability of breeding male Tree Swallows. J. Field Ornithol. 69:444-449.
Barber, C. A. and R. J. Robertson. 1999. Floater males engage in extrapair copulations with resident female Tree Swallows. Auk 116:264-269.
Barber, C. A., R. J. Robertson, P. T. Boag. 1998. Experimental mate replacement does not increase extra-pair paternity in Tree Swallows. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 265:2187-2190.
Barbosa, A. and A. P. Moller. 1999. Aerodynamic costs of long tails in male Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica and the evolution of sexual size dimorphism. Behav. Ecol. 10:128-135.
Barbosa, A. and A. P. Moller. 1999. Sexual selection and tail streamers in the Barn Swallow: Appropriate tests of the function of size-dimorphic long tails. Behav. Ecol. 10:112-114.
Bishop, C. A., G. J. Van Der Kraak, P. Ng, J. E. G. Smits, and A. Hontela. 1998. Health of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting in pesticide-sprayed apple orchards in Ontario, Canada. II. Sex and thyroid hormone concentrations and testes development. J. Toxicol. Environ. Health A 55:561-581.
Bishop, C. A., H. J. Boermans, P. Ng, G. D. Campbell, and J. Struger. 1998. Health of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting in pesticide-sprayed apple orchards in Ontario, Canada. I. Immunological parameters. J. Toxicol. Environ. Health A 55:531-559.
Bishop, C. A., N. A. Mahony, S. Trudeau, and K. E. Pettit. 1999. Reproductive success and biochemical effects in Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) exposed to chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminants in wetlands of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin, USA and Canada. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 18:263-271.
Brown, C. R and M. Bomberger-Brown. 1999. Fitness components associated with clutch size in Cliff Swallows. Auk 116:467-486.
Brown, C. R and M. Bomberger-Brown. 1999. Fitness components associated with laying date in the Cliff Swallow. Condor 101:230-245.
Brown, C. R. and M. Bomberger-Brown. 1998. Intense natural selection on body size and wing and tail asymmetry in Cliff Swallows during severe weather. Evolution. 52:1461-1475.
Hacini, S. and S. Doumandji. 1998. Role of insects in the feeding regime of the Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica Linne, 1758 (Aves: Hirundinidae) in an agricultural environment of Bordj-El-Kiffan region of Algerian coast. Entomologiste (Paris) 54:105-111.
Huin, N. and T. H. Sparks. 1998. Arrival and progression of the Swallow Hirundo rustica through Britain. Bird Study 45:361-370.
Lotem, A. 1998. .Higher levels of begging behavior by small nestlings: A case of a negatively correlated handicap. Isr. J. Zool. 44:29-45.
McCarty, J. P. and A. L. Secord. 1999. Nest-building behavior in PCB-contaminated Tree Swallows. Auk 116:55-63.
McCarty, J. P. and D. W. Winkler. 1999. Foraging ecology and diet selectivity of Tree Swallows feeding nestlings. Condor 101:246-254.
Moller, A. P. and F. De Lope. 1999. Senescence in a short-lived migratory bird: Age-dependent morphology, migration, reproduction and parasitism. J. Anim. Ecol. 68:163-171.
Nicolau, G. P. 1998. Hybridisation between Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica and House Martin Delichon urbica: Myth or reality? Alauda 66:283-297.
Pilastro, A. F. Spina, and P. Micheloni. 1998. Geographical variation in pre-migratory condition of Swallows Hirundo rustica in Italy. Ringing Migr. 19:67-74.
Primmer, C. R., N. Saino, A. P. Moller, and H. Ellegren. 1998. Unraveling the processes of microsatellite evolution through analysis of germ line mutations in Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica. Mol. Biol. Evol. 15:1047-1054.
Saino, N., C. R. Primmer, H. Ellegren, and A. P. Moller. 1999. Breeding synchrony and paternity in the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 45: 211-218.
Saino, N., H. Ellegren, A. P. Moller. No evidence for adjustment of sex allocation in relation to paternal ornamentation and paternity in Barn Swallows. Mol. Ecol. 8:399-406.
Sheldon, F. H., L. A. Whittingham, and D. W. Winkler. 1999. A comparison of cytochrome b and DNA hybridization data bearing on the phylogeny of Swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 11:320-331.
Stewart, L. M. and R. J. Robertson. 1999. The role of cavity size in the evolution of clutch size in Tree Swallows. Auk 116:553-556.
Wayland, M., S. Trudeau, T. Marchant, D. Parker, and K. A. Hobson. 1998. The effect of pulp and paper mill effluent on an insectivorous bird, the Tree Swallow. Ecotoxicology. 7:237-251.
Purple Martin Conservation Association
Studies of Tree Swallows at Long Point Bird Observatory
CURATOR OF THIS FAMILY'S PAGE:
David W. Winkler, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA dww4@cornell.edu