Swallows belong to the family Hirundininae which also includes martins. There are 84 recognised species worldwide.
They are not even distantly related to swifts.
Our familiar swallow, Hirundo rustica, is generally known as the barn swallow. It breeds throughout the Northern Hemisphere including every European country except Iceland.
The barn swallow is the world’s most widespread...
The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The adult male has a black beak. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black.
Female...
‘Painted Lady Butterfly’
‘Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly’
‘Peacock Butterfly’
The type that saw the greatest decline was the painted lady – with a 38.5 per cent drop in gardeners spotting them compared with in 2020.
Over the last two years, sightings of this species have almost halved, with only 16 per cent of respondents to a survey stating...