Warou, the welcome swallow

The colours of the welcome swallow (Hirundo neoxena) are striking and distinctive; there are no other birds even remotely similar in appearance found in New Zealand. They’re fast, though, so you’re more likely to see them in flight, swooping under and over bridges or around the eaves of buildings. The swallow’s rust-coloured face and throat gives way to a navy cape flowing down its back to its forked tail, topped off with black eye stripes that make the swallow look a bit like an elegantly masked bandit. The only thing they steal is insects snatched from the air. They are sometimes regarded as pests due to their habit of building nests on human structures, which can turn into a noisy mess once the chicks have hatched. Swallows choose vertical or near-vertical surfaces out of direct sunlight for nesting sites, and bridges, houses and outbuildings provide plenty of such surfaces. Swallows build their nests from mud with a bit of grass mixed in. It takes them from one to three weeks to build and nest, and nests are often reused from year to year.