Flight of the Violet-Green Swallow

by Judi Dressler

Title

Flight of the Violet-Green Swallow

Artist

Judi Dressler

Medium

Photograph - Photography Composite With Habitat

Description

Male Violet-green Swallow in mid-flight against a clear blue sky. Below the bird, a field of grasses creates a lovely, natural setting. This swallow had a nest nearby, and he and his sweetie were sitting on eggs. She usually stayed in the nest, but occasionally he went in there too and stayed a while.

This image is a composite of two photos that I took in the same location - the swallow and the grassy field below it. In the original photographs, the field was not close enough to the flying swallow to be in the same image, so I moved it closer to create a scene showing the bird's habitat.

These aerial insectivores perform acrobatic stunts over lakes and streams high in the sky in search of flying insects. Violet-green Swallows can look dark at first, but their true colors come to life when sunlight illuminates their metallic green backs and iridescent purple rumps. They are a common sight in the West in spring and summer, but they vanish to Mexico and Central America for the winter. They can be distinguished from other swallows by the white patches on the sides of their rump and their white cheeks.

Photo taken on June 24, 2024, west of Boulder, Colorado.

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Descriptive keywords and tags for this image include swallows, violet-green swallows, flying, in flight, grass, field, meadow, tachycineta thalassina, songbirds, passeriformes, hirundinidae, colorado, small birds, birds, wings, nature, wild, wildlife, dressler and judi dressler.

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June 24th, 2024

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