These navy blue, black and white birds with a characteristic rusty spot on a throat are very numerous in Poland. Yet albino swallows are very rare. The albino bird is born when, due to genetic mutations, it lacks a special dye.

The family of swallows is represented in Poland by swallows, sand martins and house martins. Sand martins breed in riverbanks, lakesides and sandpits, while house martins breed in towns and villages and on farm buildings. The exact number of swallows in Poland is not known – estimations vary from one million to 10 million birds.