Swallows, Scientific Name: Hirundinidae Editorial Image

The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. Swallows are small birds with dark, glossy-blue backs, red throats, pale underparts and long tail streamers. They are extremely agile in flight and spend most of their time in the air. They are widespread breeding birds in the Northern Hemisphere, migrating south in winter. Swallow numbers in the UK have fluctuated over the last 30 years with strong regional variation in trends.