Saturday, June 19, 2021

Northern Rough-Winged Swallow

Earlier this year in walks through the wash in Live Oak Canyon I noticed lots of swallows flying about. They are always speed-flying and rarely stationary. I finally got a poor, distant photo of one that was sufficient to at least identify it as a northern rough-winged swallow. Later, I got a better photo. 
Northern rough-winged swallow on the side of a cliff in the wash in Live Oak Canyon. 

Also in Live Oak Canyon, but a little bit closer.
Later I got photos of swallows out by the Salton Sea.
Off Baker Road near the Salton Sea.

Off Hazard Road (near McDonald Road) in Niland.


It is long bodied with a small head and bill and a forked tail; it is brown above with a dingy throat (a brownish/gray wash) and chest that fades to white. It likes to fly over water where it takes and eats insects in mid-air.  They nest in burrows in soil banks, which is where my first photo was taken in Live Oak Canyon. 

2 comments:

  1. Are these the same species that return to Capistrano every year?

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    1. Those are cliff swallows, a different species.

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