Barn swallow migration Hirundo rustica
Press ▶ to play the year. Glow: GBIF records per month, adjusted for observer effort. Lines: tracked individuals (Movebank).
| Scientific name | Hirundo rustica |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 32 cm |
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 14,765,832 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | 3 birds (Movebank) |
Facts from Wikidata Q25429 (CC0).
When does the barn swallow arrive in the UK?
A summer visitor in the records: sightings rise sharply from early April, are near their peak by mid April, and fall away after mid October.
Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 488,919 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
Migration in the data
14,765,832 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in July (about 47°N) and furthest south in December (about 8°S).
More than half of the effort-adjusted signal there is south of the Equator in: January, February, November, December.
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 7°S | 63% |
| February | 2°N | 50% |
| March | 17°N | 29% |
| April | 35°N | 9% |
| May | 44°N | 2% |
| June | 46°N | 1% |
| July | 47°N | 1% |
| August | 47°N | 1% |
| September | 41°N | 4% |
| October | 24°N | 21% |
| November | 3°S | 59% |
| December | 8°S | 67% |
Tracked birds
- “H988”: 13 Jan 2014 – 29 Oct 2014, between 16°N and 38°S. Dataset: Winkler DW, Gandoy FA, Areta JI, Iliff MJ, Rakhimberdiev E, Kardynal KJ, Hobson KA (2017) Long-distance range expansion and rapid adjustment of migration in a newly established population of Barn Swallows breeding in Argentina. Current Biology 27: 1–5. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.006 https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.rt00m81v (CC0 1.0 Universal)
- “H978”: 8 Jan 2014 – 21 Oct 2014, between 5°N and 38°S. Dataset: Winkler DW, Gandoy FA, Areta JI, Iliff MJ, Rakhimberdiev E, Kardynal KJ, Hobson KA (2017) Long-distance range expansion and rapid adjustment of migration in a newly established population of Barn Swallows breeding in Argentina. Current Biology 27: 1–5. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.006 https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.rt00m81v (CC0 1.0 Universal)
- “H982”: 8 Jan 2014 – 22 Oct 2014, between 3°S and 38°S. Dataset: Winkler DW, Gandoy FA, Areta JI, Iliff MJ, Rakhimberdiev E, Kardynal KJ, Hobson KA (2017) Long-distance range expansion and rapid adjustment of migration in a newly established population of Barn Swallows breeding in Argentina. Current Biology 27: 1–5. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.006 https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.rt00m81v (CC0 1.0 Universal)
The swallow tracks are from a small population that started breeding in Argentina; they spend the austral winter in northern South America. They are real, but not the classic Europe–Africa route.
About the barn swallow
The barn swallow is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. In Anglophone Europe, it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only member of family Hirundinidae called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".
From the Wikipedia article “Barn swallow” (revision 1380253423), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=9515886&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (22 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.