Birds of Interior Alaska Perching Birds: Swallows Tree, Cliff, Violet-green, and Bank Swallows live in the interior of Alaska. Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor A blue/gray back and a dark cap that includes the eye are the field marks I find most reliable to identify Tree Swallows. Swallows are such excellent fliers they can catch insects to eat right out of the air! They are true aerial insectivores! Below: Tree Swallow pair at their nest box. While birdwatching at Creamer's Field I came across a young ornithologist studying growth rates in Swallow chicks. Cliff Swallows Hirundo pyrrhonota Cinnamon brown head with a white crescent on the forehead, and a buffy patch on their rump are reliable field marks for the Cliff Swallow. However the easiest identification for beginning birders is to find their mud nests under an overhang such as eaves, or under bridges. These nests are usually visible at quite a distance. The white color on these nests is house paint (nest paint?). The owner likes having the swallows around and even added a support board to help keep the nests up. The Cliff Swallows are a wonderful mosquito control to have near the house but they do make quite a mess on structures below the nest and they are rather noisy at hours when most humans prefer to sleep. Some people remove the nests before they are in use to prevent the mess and noise problems. Bank Swallows Riparia riparia These gray, brown swallows often make their homes along cut-banks beside rivers and lakes and gives Bank Swallows their common name. Riparia refers to the area near banks of rivers and lakes. Bank swallow homes are also seen in road cuts, and old dirt piles. This colony of Bank Swallows lives in a large roadcut beside several large hay fields on Chena Hot Springs Road north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Although the face and back pattern is similar to Tree Swallows, Bank Swallows are dull gray with a dark gray band across the chest. Back to: Top | Cliff Swallows | Tree Swallows | Bank Swallows | Birds of Interior Alaska | Mr. G's classroom site