Rainbow welcomes a special summer visitor
Keep an eye out for the visiting barn swallow
Photo credit: Marie Tarrant
Rainbow Beach has had a very special and unusual visitor arrive recently, one who’s travelled a long way to see us.
A little barn swallow, Hirundo rustica, has decided to call our coastal town home for the holidays.
It’s very rare for this species of swallow to frequent this area of Australia, and the barn swallow hanging around Rainbow Beach is well south of the range it has been seen in the past, causing a great deal of interest in the birding fraternity.
For those with a keen eye, the barn swallow can be told apart from the much more common welcome swallows by its glossy blue-black upper parts, cleaner, whiter underparts and the darker black band across the breast.
Those keen to see this long-distance visitor can take a stroll by Spectrum Street, and you may just see the beautiful bird sitting with the welcome swallows or the tree martins that favour the power lines around there.
Initially recorded last summer by a birdwatcher, it appears to have returned to holiday again here this summer.
A barn swallow perched beside the more common welcome swallow
Photo credit: Marie Tarrant
It was first noticed again for 2021 in mid-November and is still being regularly sought out and seen by birdwatchers over December.
When not resting on the wires, you may catch sight of the barn swallow diving close to the ground seeking out a meal of flies, bees, wasps, and beetles.
Let us know if you manage to spot one of these very special guests!
Melissa Marie
