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Pacific Swallow
Hirundo tahitica
Layang Layang Pasifik (Malay)

Pacific Swallows eat insects, catching them during flight. To feast on swarming insects, they may join other birds like Swifts. But unlike Swifts that simply trawl the air with their mouths open, Swallows don't hunt on the wing. They perch and wait, then actually chase after individual prey and perform aerial acrobatics to catch them. Swallows also hunt at lower levels than Swifts.

Unlike Swifts, Swallows can perch and also come to the ground to drink or gather nesting material.

Pacific Swallows are found everywhere, but usually near water and open country. In Singapore, they are particularly common along the coasts, and also found in mangroves.

Migration? Pacific Swallows are resident. They are never found in such huge flocks as the visiting Barn Swallows, which they closely resemble.

Although they may feed together with Barn Swallows, they don't join the Barn Swallows huge roosts.
Mangrove and wetland wildlife at
Sungei Buloh Nature Park
Main features: Small (14cm); wing long; tail barely forked. Genders alike.
pacific swallow not in flight
Photo from
Morten Strange
Adult: Upperparts metallic blue; forehead, throat, upper breast chestnut; lowerparts grey, never white.

Juvenile: Upperparts browner; less chestnut on throat and forehead.

Call: Described as high pitched tweet in alarm; otherwise a cheerful twittering.

In flight: Dusky underwings and white tail marks.

Similar birds:
House Swift (Apus nepalensis): Flies with rapid shallow flapping interspersed by gliding; wings longer, slender scimitar-shaped; lacks tail streamers.
Barn Swallow (H. rustica): Has a black breast band, whiter underparts. Also tail streamers, but not diagnostic because the Barn may lose its tail streamers during a moult.

Status in Singapore: Very common resident throughout the island including North and South offshore islands.

World distribution: South India across the continent to Japan and the Philippines, down Southeast Asia to New Guinea and Tahiti.

Classification: Family Hirundinidae. World 89 species, Singapore 5 species.
Breeding: Resident Pacific Swallows nest on vertical surfaces with overhangs to protect their mud nest (which would disintegrate in the rain). These may be cliffs with an overhang but are often bridges, dams and other man-made structures. But they shy away from humans and prefer unoccupied buildings. They build solid nests out of mud pellets brought by the beakful from puddles and river banks. Combined with dry grasses, these pellets are arranged much like bricks to form shallow cups. These may be lined with dry grass and feathers. At a particularly suitable nest site, they may form large colonies. Usually 3 white eggs are laid. These are long and pointed and have brown spots.

REFERENCES
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Nature's Niche
  • Morten Strange, "A Photographic Guide to Birds of Malaysia and Singapore: including Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Borneo", Periplus, 2000 (p. 225: description, voice, habits, distribution, status, photo).
  • Morten Strange, "Tropical Birds of Malaysia and Singapore", Periplus Editions, 2000 (p. 44: habits, habitat, photo).
  • Morten Strange, "Birds of Southeast Asia: A photographic guide to the birds of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia", New Holland, 1998 (p. 61: photo, facts).
  • Lim Kim Seng and Dana Gardner, "Birds: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Birds of Singapore", Sun Tree Publishing Ltd., 1997 (p. 106: identification, status in Singapore, distribution, diagram, number of species).
  • G W H Davison and Chew Yen Fook, "A Photographic Guide to Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore", New Holland Publishers Ltd., 1995 (p. 73: identification, status in Singapore, distribution, photo).
  • Morten Strange and Allen Jeyarajasingam, "Birds: A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore", Sun Tree Publishing, 1993 (p. 87: description, distribution, habits, habitat, photo).
  • Christopher Hails, "Birds of Singapore" illustrated by Frank Jarvis, Times Editions, 1987 reprinted 1995 (p. 115: habits, description, status in Singapore, and lovely drawings of the birds).
  • Lim Kim Seng, "Pocket Checklist of the Birds of the Republic of Singapore", Nature Society (Singapore), 1999 (Abundance, status, Chinese and Malay names).
  • M W F Tweedie, "Common Birds of the Malay Peninsula", Longman,1970 (p. 37: description, distribution, habits, habitat, drawing).
  • G C Madoc, "An Introduction to Malayan Birds", Malayan Nature Society, 1947 (p. 128-129: description, habits, habitat).
  • Dr. Harold G Cogger (et. al), "Encyclopedia of Animals"; Swallows by P A Clancey, 1993 (p. 394-395: habits, habitats and photo of nest).
  • David Attenborough, "The Life of Birds", Princeton University Press, 1998 (p. 91: hunting methods; p. 231: how they build their nests).
  • John Palmer (ed.), "Exploring the Secrets of Nature", Reader's Digest, 1994 (p. 259: about female's preference for long tails, and photo).
 
By Ria Tan, 2001