![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/northern-rough-winged-swallow-8708-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-rough-winged-swallow-8708\\"")
<\/p>\nHave you ever wondered how this swallow acquired such an unusual name? Where did “rough-winged” come from?<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Eight days ago in the Wasatch Mountains I was waiting for a hummingbird to show up on his favorite perch when 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallows magically appeared out of nowhere and landed very close to me on a couple of apparently dead branches\u00a0in a nearby tree. This was one of those birds.<\/p>\n They were both close and I have good detail and clean backgrounds\u00a0with each of them but I’m not happy with the out-of-focus perch in front of this one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I like this shot better because the perch isn’t in front of the swallow. I very seldom see this species and I believe I’ve only photographed them once before\u00a0so I\u00a0was happy they made an appearance.<\/p>\n I’ve often wondered how Northern Rough-winged Swallows acquired such an unusual name so this time I decided to do a little research. I’ll try to explain it\u00a0below\u00a0but doing it well\u00a0won’t be easy\u00a0because\u00a0the feature is too small to see\u00a0in my\u00a0photos and I couldn’t find an illustration or photo that I could legally\u00a0copy or even\u00a0link to. I\u00a0think you’ll\u00a0need to already\u00a0know some basic feather anatomy\u00a0to completely understand it but\u00a0let’s give it a shot anyway…<\/p>\n To this day the presumed\u00a0function of this unusual feature remains a mystery to science.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Addendum: This photo was taken a few years ago\u00a0on the only other occasion when I remember ever photographing this species. This bird and a\u00a0few others were nesting in a mud bank along the Jordan River.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever wondered how this swallow acquired such an unusual name? Where did “rough-winged” come from?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/northern-rough-winged-swallow-8762-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-rough-winged-swallow-8762\\"")
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![\"northern-rough-winged-swallow-1265\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/northern-rough-winged-swallow-1265.jpg\")
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