Since early colonial times this bird has been a welcome presence on farms because it eats many crop-destroying insects. It usually nests inside barns or other buildings. This is the only North American swallow to have a deeply forked tail and white tail spots.
The barn swallow is bule-black above, cinnamon-buff below with a darker throat.
We saw a lot of these birds flying around a gazebo at the far point. Their nests were in the rafters and it was fun watching the adults keeping an eye on the young birds in the nests.
