Hill Swallow

The hill swallow is a small swallow, 13 cm long, that breeds in southern India and Sri Lanka and is resident apart from some local seasonal movements. It is associated with coasts but is increasingly spreading to forested uplands. It has a blue back with browner wings and tail, a red face and throat and dusky underparts, and a shorter, less forked tail than the barn swallow (Wikipedia, general species account).

It builds a neat cup-shaped nest of mud pellets under a cliff ledge or on a building, bridge or tunnel, lined with softer material, and lays up to four eggs. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Pacific swallow. Nationally Vulnerable (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).