Newsletter / Blog
2011-09-25 Aves bird of the week - White-throated Swallow - Hirundo albigularis
The White-throated Swallow - Hirundo albigularis, is common species, found in southern Africa, which has benefited from the increased nesting
opportunities presented by the construction of bridges and dams.
It has glossy
dark blue upperparts and a bright chestnut crown. A dark blue-black breast band
separates the white throat from the greyish white underparts and underwing
coverts. The upper wings, underwing flight feathers and forked tail are
blackish-blue, but the undertail has white patches near the feather tips. The
white throat and blackish breast band are distinctions from the Barn Swallow.
The outer feathers are slightly longer in the male than the female. Juveniles
are duller than the adult, with shorter outer tail feathers and a browner
crown.
They winter in
Angola Zambia and southern Zaire.
This is a bird of open country and grassland, with a preference for highlands
and nearby water. It is often found around man-made structures.
It exclusively
eats airborne insects, doing most of its foraging close to the ground, hawking
prey aerially.
This swallow
breeds in Southern Africa. It builds a bowl-shaped mud nest with a soft
lining of grass or hair. It is usually near or over water, and is built on a
ledge under an overhang on a rock face or on a man-made structure such as a
building, dam wall, culvert or bridge. Uninhabited buildings are preferred to
houses. The nest may be reused for subsequent broods or in later years. It is a
monogamous, solitary nester, with one breeding pair producing multiple broods
in a single breeding season. The egg-laying
season is from August to March, peaking between October and December. They lay 2 to 5,
white with brown and blue blotched eggs, usually 3 eggs which are incubated by
the female for 15 to 18 days. The young are fed
by both parents. The chicks fledge between 18 and25 days, but roost in the nest
for at least 2 weeks.
Not threatened,
in fact its range and population have increased in the Western Cape due to the increasing
availability of man-made nest sites. |