Larry's Gallery:   Welcome Swallow (4/5)

PASSERIFORMES: Hirundinidae

Hirundo neoxena  

The Welcome Swallow, although very similar to the Barn Swallow of Europe, is an Australian endemic.

It is thought that Welcome Swallows originated from migratory Barn Swallows remaining in Australia constituting a permanent resident population which developed separately.*

*Understanding Australian Birds, J.D. Macdonald, 1982. p49.