"Swallow" is not just a species, in our country can see many species of swallow and swift family birds, some of which are called unknown onlookers called "swallow", such as short-billed swiftlet, house swallow and so on.
In fact, there are quite a few swallows...
Let's start getting to know the swallows slowly
The above mentioned two families, yes, I don't know why, "swallow" is very different. One is the order Swift - Swift family and the other is Passeriformes - Swallow family.
Let's start with the pteropods.
We can see these in our country:
White-eyed river swallow Cliff swallow Brown-throated sand swallow Rock swallow Pure color rock swallow Family swallow Yangban swallow Golden-waisted swallow Spotted swallow [white-bellied] hairy-footed swallow Smoke-bellied hairy-footed swallow Black-throated hairy-footed swallow
The most common is nothing more than the house swallow
Passeriformes > Swallow family > Swallow genus
PASSERIFORMES > Hirundinidae > Hirundo rustica
Description: Medium-sized (20 cm, including the extension of the tail feathers) of glow blue and white swallows. The upper body is steel blue; the thorax is red with a blue chest band, the abdomen is white; the tail is very long, with white spots at the proximal end. It is distinguished from the ocean spotted swallow by a purer white belly with a long tail and a blue chest band. Sub-adult birds have dark plumage and no elongation of the tail, which is easily confused with the ocean spotted swallow.
Yanke also has a kind of want to say, that is, it is cute
White-bellied hairy-footed swallow
Passeriformes > Swallow family > Genus Pteropods
PASSERIFORMES > Hirundinidae > Delichon urbica
Description: Small (13 cm) steel blue and white swallow. Forked tail, lower body nearly white, waist white. It is easily confused with the smoky-bellied hairy-footed swallow, which is distinguished by a pure white chest instead of a smoky white, a large white area at the waist, and a deep slit in the tail.
Iris - dark brown; mouth - black; feet - pink, covered with white feathers to the toes.
Then there is a swallow that is "very common in most parts of China", see its common name: Hu Yan Qiao Yan Xiahou...
Well, it is
Golden-waisted swallow
PASSERIFORMES > Hirundinidae > Hirundo daurica
Description: Large (18 cm) swallow. The light maroon waist contrasts with the dark steel blue upper body, the lower body is white with many black fine lines, and the tail is long and deeply forked. It is easily confused with the spotted swallow in the wild, but the distribution of the spotted swallow in China is extremely limited.
Iris - brown; mouth and feet - black.
This little bird is also called a swallow, so it can be seen that the swallow is really diverse...
Rock sand swallow
Passeriformes > Swallow family > Sand swallow genus
PASSERIFORMES > Hirundinidae > Riparia riparia
Description: Small (12 cm) brown swallow. The underparts are white with a characteristic brown chest band. Sub-adults have yellow throat skin.
Why is it called Rock Sand Swallow?
The main representative of the swallow family has finished speaking, and below is the swift family. In our country there are swiftlets, pintail swifts, brown swifts, alpine swifts and swifts.
There is also a tree swallow family, but it is uncommon. Let's start with it.
No one seems to call it a swallow.
- Crested swallow
Swifts > Swifts > Crested Swifts
APODIFORMES > Hemiprocnidae > Hemiprocne coronata
Description: Grey, swift-like, long tail, long wings and curved. It is characterized by a raised crest. The upper body is dark gray, and the third-degree flight feathers have eight gray stripes; black eye masks; and the lower body gray. Males have brown patches on the sides of their faces and ear feathers. Sub-adults are brownish with very small crests and many white and dark brown scales.
Iris - brown; mouth - black; feet - red.
Cry: A loud, thick high-pitched cry called cher-tee-too-cher-tee-too-cher-tee-too.
Seriously start the Swift family.
First another bird commonly known as "swallow",
Short-billed swiftlet Himalayan Swiftlet
Swifts > Swifts > Swifts
APODIFORMES > Apodidae > Collocalia brevirostris
Description: Slightly smaller (14 cm) nearly black swiftlet. The wings are long and blunt, and the tail is slightly forked. The waist varies in color, from light brown to greyish, and the lower body is light brown with slightly darker longitudinal stripes. The legs are slightly covered with feathers. The subspecies innominata is grayer in waist color than the nominate subspecies. The subspecies inopina has the heaviest color. The subspecies rogersi is slightly smaller than the nominate subspecies , and has a waist color only slightly darker than the back , a whiter lower body , and no feathers on the legs.
Iris - dark color; mouth - black; feet - black.
It's called the Beijing Swift. But it should not mean much the same as the Peking Duck prefix.
Common Swift
Swifts > Swifts > Swifts
APODIFORMES > Apodidae > Sunset
Description: The large (21 cm) swifttail is slightly forked, characterized by a white throat and a dark brown transverse band separated by a thorax. The wings are quite wide.
Iris - brown; mouth - black; feet - black.
Shouting: not as harsh as the ordinary lou swallow call, for chit rit rit rit it ititit chet et et et et...
Science popularization to this, basically good. Additions are welcome
It ends with the favorite little white bird mm