Welcome Swallow

The Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena) is one of Australia’s most familiar and acrobatic birds, seen darting and swooping over open fields, waterways and suburban backyards right across the country. Its name is said to come from the warm reception sailors gave the bird when it appeared around their ships, signalling that land was near. Small, fast and rarely perched for long, the Welcome Swallow is built for life on the wing — catching insects mid-flight with remarkable agility. They’re also one of the few native birds perfectly happy nesting on man-made structures, building their distinctive mud cup nests under eaves, bridges and verandahs. These photographs capture the Welcome Swallow in flight and at rest.