Tachycineta thalassina
The Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) is an aerial acrobat, renowned for its dazzling iridescent plumage and graceful flight. Averaging 12-13 cm (4.7-5.1 in) in length with a wingspan of about 28-30 cm (11-12 in) and weighing around 12-16 grams, it exhibits a striking contrast of deep white undersides against a highly iridescent green back, bronze-green mantle, and a vivid violet-purple rump. Its most distinctive field mark is the conspicuous white flank patch that extends above t...
Primarily found in open coniferous and mixed deciduous-coniferous forests, mountain canyons, and cliffs, often near water sources, especially at higher elevations up to 3,500 meters. They also adapt to urban and suburban areas with suitable nesting cavities and open foraging space.
Exclusively insectivorous, feeding almost entirely on small, soft-bodied flying insects caught in mid-air, including flies, beetles, bees, wasps, ants, and moths.
Violet-green Swallows are diurnal, highly social birds, often seen foraging in loose flocks during the day and roosting communally in cavities or dense vegetation at night. They are expert aerial insectivores, hawking flying insects with remarkable agility in wide, sweeping arcs, frequently circl...
The Violet-green Swallow's breeding range spans western North America, extending from Alaska and western Canada south through the western United States to Baja California and into the mountains of central Mexico. Key breeding states include California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming,...
Least Concern
- The Violet-green Swallow is one of the highest-nesting swallow species in North America, often breeding at elevations up to 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) in mountainous regions. - Its dazzling iridescent green and violet plumage is not due to pigments, but rather the structural arrangement of mela...