Hornbeam Hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus "Carpinus" in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The common English name "hornbeam" derives from the hardness of the woods (likened to "horn") and the Old English "beam" "tree" (cognate with German "Baum"). The "American hornbeam" is also occasionally known as "blue-beech", "ironwood", or "musclewood", the first from the resemblance of the bark to that of the American beech "Fagus grandifolia", the other two from the hardness of the wood and the muscular appearance of the trunk, respectively.
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