Betula populifolia the female catkins erect. The fruit, maturing in autumn, is composed of many tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts. The wood is medium hard and is used for high grade plywood, furniture, drum shells, spools and firewood. Like other North American birches, gray birch is highly resistant to the Bronze birch borer ("Agrilus anxius"). The leaves of the gray birch serve as food for various Lepidoptera, such as the leaf miner moth "Cameraria betulivora". Between about 1930 and 1950, many gray birch trees, along with paper birch and yellow birch ("Betula alleghaniensis"), were affected and killed by birch
White-winged swallow White-winged swallow The white-winged swallow ("Tachycineta albiventer") is a resident breeding swallow in tropical South America from Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad south to northern Argentina. It is not found west of the Andes. This swallow is largely non-migratory. The genus "Tachycineta" was established for this group of swallows by German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850. The genus name derives from Ancient Greek "takhukinetos", "moving quickly"; the specific name "albiventer" is from Latin "albus", "white", and "venter", "belly". This swallow is monotypic, and no subspecies are currently recognized. The adult white-winged swallow is long and weighs . It has iridescent blue-green