A bird with a long, deeply forked tail that catches insects in flight. It nests under building eaves and bridges as well as in other sheltered places.
Its back is bluish-black and the tail is deeply forked. Females tend to have shorter outer tail feathers.
Barn swallows breeding in Europe spend winter in sub-Saharan Africa and return to their breeding areas in spring. Arrival dates differ between individuals. Among studied females, earlier arrivals tended to be followed by earlier egg laying, linking migration with the next breeding season.
A 2015 study used miniature light-level loggers to track annual movements of swallows breeding in southern Switzerland and northern Italy. Researchers equipped 640 birds during the 2010 and 2011 breeding seasons and recovered 124 devices the following year. Changes in sunrise and sunset patterns distinguished movement from stationary periods and helped estimate arrival at breeding colonies. In 16 females with both arrival and first-egg dates, the two dates were strongly associated. Individual tracking connects migration and reproduction as successive parts of an annual life rather than separate events.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In Japan, conservation work helps retain nesting places where swallows and people share buildings. Bird Research’s fiscal 2025 activity report records joint work with Tsubame Japan, including free distribution of 1,200 droppings trays to roadside stations, railway stations and other facilities. Artificial nests and crow deterrents were installed at Kunitachi Station and in the Tama area, and local swallow-protection work at JR Shimamoto Station, Osaka, was supported. These actions address fouling and predation around nests to help keep breeding sites available.