Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 10, 2017

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Mangrove swallow perching

The mangrove swallow (Tachycineta albilinea) is a bird in the swallow family that breeds in coastal regions of Mexico and Central America. It is a seasonal breeder and is territorial when breeding, much like the related tree swallow. Its nests are frequently found near water, no more than 2 metres (7 ft) above the ground. It usually forages close to the nest when feeding its chicks, but will go much further when foraging for itself. In between foraging attempts, it perches near water. It subsists primarily on a diet of flying insects, including dragonflies and bees, unusually large prey for a bird of its size. It has blue-green upperparts, white underparts, a white streak above the eye, and blackish flight and tail feathers. This swallow's song is a soft trilling, with a rolled jeerrt call, and a sharp alarm note. With a slowly decreasing population of at least 500,000 individuals, the mangrove swallow is classified as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (Full article...)

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