ODNR Division of Wildlife - A to Z Species Guide - Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Photo by Jim McCormac

Rough-winged swallows have tiny hooklets on the outer vane (flat part of a feather) of the outside wing feathers. This is how the "rough-winged" got its name.

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Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Stelgidopteryx serripennis

At-a-Glance

• Incubation: 12 days

• Clutch Size: 4-8 eggs

• Young Fledge: 19-21 days after hatching

• Typical Foods: insects

Description
This swallow is brown above and white below, with a dusky throat and breast. Its tail is forked.

Habitat and Habits
This undistinguished brown swallow is common along most of our waterways, but does not generally form big colonies. Their call is a low, rough bzzt bzzt - similar to the bank swallow.

Reproduction and Care of the Young
Unlike its relative the bank swallow, rough-winged swallows do not nest in colonies. They nest in subterranean burrows, and as the scientific name implies, they are capable of constructing these with the aid of their specialized wings. Increasingly, Northern rough-winged swallows are learning to use small diameter drainage pipes for nest sites -- sometimes far from the stream banks they normally use.