Swallows are somewhat similar in habits and appearance to other aerial insectivores, such as the martins (also a passerine) and the swifts (order Apodiformes).

The adult birds have a highly lustrous dark metallic steel-blue appearance with long tail streamers, which are particularly noticeable in males.

[3] Blue swallows feed on small, soft-bodied flies and other arthropods, catching them on the wing.

[4] The blue swallow arrives on the breeding range at the end of September and constructs cup-shaped nests from mud and grass on the inside of sinkhole cavities, aardvark burrows and old mine shafts.

[1] This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Blue swallow" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL.