Africa Wild

521. Blue Swallow Hirundo atrocaerulea (Blouswael)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Hirundinidae



Description
Length 18-25 cm. It is a distinctive glossy dark blue, not black plumage, longer outer tail streamers and the tail held square not forked. From close may display scattered white feathers on neck, rump and flanks.
Sexes are similar. The male has longer outer tail feathers and glossier blue underparts.
Juvenile is sooty black and lacks metallic gloss of adult. Throat and chest brownish and belly black.

Distribution
Rare and localised, it has disjunct populations in Uganda and north-eastern DRC, southern Tanzania, southern Malawi and southern Africa. Here it has small breeding populations in Zimbabwe's eastern highlands and the eastern Escarpment in South Africa and Swaziland, with a separate population in the mistbelt veld just east of Lesotho in KZN.



Habitat
It occurs in montane grassland with high rainfall and streams forming shallow valleys, dongas and potholes. It can also be seen in montane sourveld in many parts of its South African range.

Movements and migrations
Intra-African breeding migrant, it is present in Zimbabwe from late August to mid April and in South Africa from October to April. It migrates in flocks of about 40 birds to east Africa in the non-breeding season.

Diet
Aerial insects caught over low grass, usually foraging in flocks of 4-5, catching prey near the ground.

Breeding
Monogamous, strongly territorial solitary nester; breeding pairs vigorously chasing other swallows away from their territory. It often produces two broods per breeding season. Nest construction starts around October, with both sexes collecting mud while simultaneously mixing it with grass. This mixture is then evenly applied to form a half-bowl, which once completed is lined with dry grass, fine roots and white feathers (possibly to help them find the nest in the dark). It is usually placed in the sloping wall of a pothole, donga, riverbank or Aardvark burrow. In some areas (especially Mpumalanga) most nests are placed in old mine workings. There are also a few records of nests in road culverts and buildings. Egg-laying season is from October-March, peaking in South Africa during December-January. It lays 2-3, rarely 4 white eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for 14-17 days. The chicks are fed by both adults, leaving the nest after approximately 20-26 days.

Call
Female gives high-pitched nasal hee-hee-hee call. Both sexes have a soft wheezy chip or chip-chip notes.

Status
Rare and critically endangered in South Africa due to habitat loss. The blue swallow is classified globally as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List. Localised breeding intra-African migrant.

521. Blue Swallow Hirundo atrocaerulea





Links:
Biodiversity Explorer: http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/bir ... erulea.htm
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/521.pdf
Sabap2
Angela Turner, Chris Rose: A Handbook to the Swallows and Martins of the World
IUCN: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22712318/0

523. Pearl-breasted Swallow Hirundo dimidiata (Pêrelborsswael)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Hirundinidae


Description
Size 14 cm. Blue upperparts and grey-white underparts, upper wings, underwing flight feathers and tail are black-blue; underwing coverts darker shade of grey-white. The sexes are alike.
Adult: Forehead to upper tail coverts glossy blue-back, with slight purplish wash. Lores and ear coverts dull blue-black. Tail black, less glossy than back, rarely with some diffuse white on outer rectrices; latter elongated, tapering. Wings brownish black, with blue gloss, most pronounced on coverts. Lesser and median underwing coverts grey-brown; axillaries and greater underwing coverts white. Chin, throat and underparts dull white, breast and flanks with grey wash; small blackish patch extends from neck onto either side of breast. Some dark shaft streaks on lower breast and belly; undertail coverts with dark shafts and tips, and sometimes additional dark bar separated from dark tip by subterminal white bar. Bill black. Eyes brown. Legs and feet black.
Juvenile is less glossy above than adult, duller and browner, gloss largely restricted to head and mantle. with shorter outer tail feathers. Innermost secondaries tipped white.
Similar species: May be distinguished from Wire-tailed Swallow by its lack of both tail streamers and a vent bank, and by its blue cape. When seen from below, it differs from Grey-rumped Swallow and Common House-Martin in having white (not dark) underwing coverts. It lacks white spots in the tail and the blue gloss is not well developed. Common House Martin has white (not blue-black) rump.
White-throated Swallow has rufous forehead and complete breast band.
Distribution
Occurs from Angola, Zambia, southern DRC and Malawi to southern Africa. Here it is sparse to locally common, with concentrated populations in northern Botswana, central Namibia, Zimbabwe, Limpopo Province, Gauteng, the Eastern and the Western Cape. The Pearl-breasted Swallow is concentrated in five fairly discrete areas of southern Africa: the southern Cape Province, central Transvaal, northeastern Zimbabwe, the Okavango and central Namibia. The breeding population found in Zimbabwe is a different subspecies (H. d. marwitzi) to that found in Namibia and South Africa (H. d. dimidiata). The northern subspecies, H. d. marwitzi is darker and smaller than nominate.



Habitat
Over bushveld and fresh water, in lowland fynbos and farmland.

Movements and migrations
Summer breeding visitor to the Western and Eastern Cape, arriving in August and leaving in April.

Diet
It mainly eats insects, supplemented occasionally with grass seeds. It forages low on the ground (often below the canopy in woodland), hawking flying insects such as termite alates.

Breeding
The nest is built mainly by the male, who works on it every morning for about 3-4 weeks. It basically consists of a cup built of mud or clay pellets, reinforced and lined with dry grass and hair. Placement varies with different regions: in Zimbabwe it is commonly positioned on rock faces, bridges, buildings and in Brown hyaena or Aardvark burrows. In northern South Africa it is typically placed in Aardvark or African porcupine burrows and in southern SA buildings are used more then any other site. Egg-laying season is from August-March, peaking around August-October. The female lays 2-4 white eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 16-18 days, regularly leaving the nest with her mate to forage. The chicks are fed by both adults and brooded by the female for short periods for the first week of their lives. They eventually leave the nest at about 18-23 days old but are still fed by the adults for about 20 more days. They remain in their parents territory until the second clutch of the breeding season is laid (sometimes 3 clutches are produced in one season).

Call
The call is a chittering chip cheree chip chip.

Status
Locally common resident with seasonal movements in parts of its range.

523. Pearl-breasted Swallow Hirundo dimidiata



© Grumpy


Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/523.pdf
Sabap2

529. Rock Martin Ptyonoprogne fuligula Kransswael
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Hirundinidae


Description
A stocky martin, told in flight by broad wings and white 'windows' in the fanned tail. The only Matrin with all brown plumage. It is 12–15 cm long, with mainly brown plumage, paler-toned on the upper breast and underwing coverts, and with a short square tail that has small white patches near the tips of all but the central and outermost pairs of feathers. The eyes are brown, the small bill is mainly black, and the legs are brownish-pink. They have pinkish-cinnamon throats and white windows are visible in the tail during flight. They have black bills; dark brown eyes and dusky brown legs and feet The sexes are alike in both size and plumage colouration. Sexes are alike.
Juvenile has pale edges to the upperwing coverts and secondaries.
Similar species: Although only slightly larger than the Sand Martin and Brown-throated Sand Martin, the Rock Martin is more robust, has white tail spots (visible in the spread tail), and lacks a breast band. It is paler on the throat, breast and underwings than the all-dark form of the Brown-throated Sand Martin.

Distribution
In patches across Africa, absent from the rainforest of central Africa and extending into Asia from the Middle East to Pakistan. In southern Africa it is common in most of South Africa and Namibia, with smaller populations in southern and northern Botswana, Zimbabwe and northern Mozambique.

P. f. pretoriae: sw Zimbabwe and s Mozambique to e South Africa
P. f. anderssoni: sw Angola , n, c Namibia
P. f. fuligula: s Namibia and w South Africa



Habitat
It prefers rocky habitats, especially cliffs, quarries, boulder-strewn hills and buildings. It breeds mainly in the mountains.

Diet
It exclusively eats flying insects.

Breeding
It is a monogamous, usually solitary nester, although loose colonies of up to 40 breeding pairs have been found. Both sexes build the nest, which is a cup of mud pellets lined with feathers, fine grass or plant down. It is usually placed under a rocky overhang or under a bridge or the eaves of a convenient building. The females lay a clutch of two or three white eggs with brown and grey blotches. Eggs are incubated by both sexes for 17-29, usually 18-20 days. The young are brooded and fed by both adults, staying in the nest for about 22-29 days. They still remain in the vicinity, returning to roost every night until they are about 45-50 days old.

Call
Soft, indistinct twitterings. Contact call a high pitched twee Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident with local movements.

529. Rock Martin Ptyonoprogne fuligula

© Toko
Augrabies Falls National Park

© Toko
P. f. anderssoni, Southern Namibia

© ExFmem

© ExFmem

© ExFmem

© leachy
Tankwa Karoo National Park

Links:
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
Sabap2
Angela Turner. A Handbook to the Swallows and Martins of the World
Ian Sinclair, P. A. R. Hockey. The Larger Illustrated Guide to Birds of Southern Africa

530. Common House Martin Delichon urbicum (Huisswael)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Hirundinidae


Description
The adult is 13 cm long, with a wingspan of 26–29 cm. Swallow-like; the only martin in the region to have pure white underparts and a white rump (in adult). It is steel-blue above with a white rump, and white underparts, but dark underwings; even its short legs have white downy feathering. The tail is deeply forked without white windows. It has brown eyes and a small black bill, and its toes and exposed parts of the legs are pink. The sexes are similar.
The juvenile bird is sooty black, less glossy above with pale grey rump, and some of its wing coverts and quills have white tips and edgings. Throat and undertail densely freckled greyish brown.
Similar species: It is easily confused with the Pearl-breasted Swallow. In flight it is easily confused from below with Grey-rumped Swallow, but has a less deeply forked tail, broader-based, shorter wings and a noticeably shorter, less deeply forked tail.

Distribution
Its breeding territory stretches from Britain and north-west Africa to central Asia. In the non-breeding season it migrates to Africa from southern Mauritania to Uganda and Ethiopia south to southern Africa. Here it occurs in patches across Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa, from the Kruger National Park and Gauteng through to KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern and Western Cape.
The House Martin is present throughout the eastern and southernmost parts of southern Africa during the summer, but is found far less frequently in the drier western regions, especially in the northern Cape Province. It spends the non-breeding season throughout sub-Saharan Africa and breeds widely in Europe and Asia.

Habitat
It occupies a variety of open habitats, including fynbos, savanna, grassland and agricultural areas, but it is most common in mountainous or hilly areas, such as the Drakensberg and eastern highlands of Zimbabwe.

Diet
It exclusively eats arthropods, doing most of its foraging at high altitudes along with other swallows and swifts. It may also descend to near ground level to feed on insects scared of by bush fires or tractors.

Breeding
There are have been sightings of pairs building nests in South Africa and Namibia, all dating from the pre 1970s. Most lack any details accept for two sightings in the late 60s - with both there was no evidence that suggest the breeding attempt went beyond the nest-building stage.
The Common House-Martin was originally a cliff and cave nester, and some cliff-nesting colonies still exist, with the nests built below an overhanging rock. The nest is a neat closed convex cup fixed below a suitable ledge, with a narrow opening at the top. It is constructed by both sexes with mud pellets collected in their beaks, and lined with grasses, hair or other soft materials. The Common House-Martin tends to breed colonially. Four or five white eggs are usually laid. The female does most of the incubation, which normally lasts 14–16 days. After a further 22–32 days,the chicks leave the nest. The fledged young stay with, and are fed by, the parents for about a week after leaving the nest.

Call
High pitched prt-prt notes. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Scarce to locally common non-breeding Palearctic migrant. Present late Sept-Apr or May and occasionally overwinters.

530. Common House Martin Delichon urbicum



© leachy
Kruger National Park, Pafuri

Links:
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
Sasol
The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of European Birds
Oiseaux net: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-commo ... artin.html

526. Greater Striped Swallow Cecropis cucullata, formerly Hirundo cucullata (Grootstreepswael)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Hirundinidae


Description
The Greater Striped Swallow is 18–20 cm long. Identified by chestnut cap, pale chestnut rump and lightly streaked underparts that appear almost white in flight. It has dark blue blue upperparts with a pale orange rump and a chestnut crown, nape and sides of the head. The underparts and underwing coverts are creamy white with dark streaking, and the upper wings and underwing flight feathers are blackish-brown. The blackish tail has very long outer feathers; these are slightly longer in the male than the female.
Juveniles are duller and browner, with less contrast and shorter outer tail feathers, have a reddish crown and a partial brown band on the the breast.
Similar species: This species can be distinguished from the smaller Lesser Striped Swallow, in that the latter species has heavier and darker underparts striping, a deeper red rump, and more extensive orange-brown on the head. Greater shows fainter streaks and has a lighter looking chin, colouring to the head is less extensive and has stripes on the ear coverts.

Distribution
Endemic to Africa south of the equator, occurring from southern DRC, Angola and Zambia to southern Africa. Here it occurs across much of South Africa excluding the arid north-western Karoo and the extremities of Limpopo Province. It also occupies central Namibia, central and eastern Zimbabwe and small areas of Botswana.



Habitat
Open habitats such as grassland, fynbos, karoo, open savanna, suburban areas, cultivated land and farmyards.

Movements and migrations
Intra-African breeding migrant, arriving from its central African non-breeding grounds around July-August in the Limpopo Province, Western and Eastern Cape. It reaches Swaziland, Botswana and KwaZulu-Natal during September-October, eventually leaving the region around April-May.

Diet
It mainly eats insects, doing most of its foraging aerially along with other swallows or swifts, hawking prey over open grassland, large stretches of water and around man-made structures.

Breeding
Monogamous, solitary nester, one breeding pair usually produces 2-3 broods per breeding season. Pair bonds last for the duration of the breeding process, after which the pair go their separate ways. If one adult dies his mate immediately tries find a new partner. If this fails one of the offspring from a previous breeding season returns to mate with the widowed parent. Both sexes construct the nest which is a bowl of mud pellets, thickly lined with feathers and grass. An approximately 7-23 cm long tubular entrance is placed on the side of the structure. It can be placed in a variety of places, such as under a rock overhang, free-standing boulder or fallen tree. Artificial sites are commonly used, especially under a road culvert, eaves or veranda of a building, old mine workings or in a nest box. Egg-laying season is from August-April, peaking from November-March. The eggs are glossy white with a few brown spots. It lays 2-4 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for 16-20 days. The chicks are fed by both adults, leaving the nest after approximately 23-30 days. The young still roost in the nest up to 3 weeks after fledging.

Status
Common, near endemic summer resident.

526. Greater Striped Swallow Cecropis cucullata

© Amoli

© Amoli
Pilanesberg

© Michele Nel
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Kousant

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/526.pdf
Sabap2
Angela Turner. A Handbook to the Swallows and Martins of the World
Sasol