Photo Study Of Some Rough-winged Swallows In Schwenksville (Montgomery County), PA, April 26th, 2011

    According to the pundits, Spring arrives in Pennsylvania on the Vernal Equinox which occurred this year on March 20th, 2011 at 7:21 PM EDT. The birders look forward to
    Spring because many migrants as well as some extralimitals show up or pass through. However, for me, when the forsythia is blooming and it's my wife's birthday and
    the Northern Rough-winged Swallows have arrived back at Perkiomen Creek, I know for sure that Spring has sprung. I photographed eight different Rough-wings this morning.

     The Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) is a small swallow. This plain brown bird is fairly common across the United States in summer. The species
    derives its name from its outer wing feathers, which have small hooks or points on their leading edges. These swallows forage in flight over water or fields, usually flying low.
    They eat insects. Adults are 5-6 inches in length, brown on top with light underparts and they have a forked tail. They are similar in appearance to the Bank Swallow but have
    a dusky throat and breast. They are closely related and very similar to the Southern Rough-winged Swallow  (Stelgidopteryx ruficollis) but that species has a more contrasting
    rump,  and the ranges do not quite overlap. Their breeding habitat is near streams, lakes and river banks across North America. This brown-backed, dusky throated swallow
    prefers open areas and nests singly or in small colonies in burrows or crevices, including human-made structures. John James Audubon discovered the Northern Rough-winged
    Swallow in 1819, mostly by accident when he collected what he thought were Bank Swallows in Louisiana. It was only later, upon closer inspection, that he realized he had
    actually collected a different species. The normal clutch is 4–8 eggs, incubated by the female for 13 days, with another 20 to fledging. They migrate to the Gulf coast of the
    United States, the Caribbean and south to Central America. (Cornell BNA; Wikipedia; Sibley Guide To Birds)

    To see a larger image of any of the photos below, please click on either the thumbnails or the captions...thanks!

         Howard B. Eskin 2011          Please email your comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com             Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index