Black Rough-winged Swallow
Encyclopedia
The Black Saw-wing or Black Rough-winged Swallow (Psalidoprocne pristoptera) is a small passerine
bird
in the swallow
family.
The Black Rough-winged Swallow breeds in open wooded habitats, and has a preference for wetter areas, although some races occur in mountain grassland habitat. It breeds across Africa
from eastern Nigeria
and Ethiopia
south to Angola
, northern Zimbabwe
and northern Mozambique
. The subspecies P. p. holomelaena breeds down south-eastern Africa from southern Mozambique to the Cape in South Africa
.
This species is mainly resident, apart from seasonal local or altitudinal movements, but P. p. holomelaena is migratory
, spending the southern winter north of the breeding range. The nominate race P. p. pristoptera of the mountains of northern Ethiopia moves south after breeding.
The nest is constructed form grass, moss or similar materials, and built in a 30–60 cm long burrow in a vertical sand or clay bank. This is usually an old burrow of another species like a kingfisher
, but may be excavated by the breeding pair. The clutch is two, sometimes three, white eggs. Only one parent, probably the female, incubates for 14–19 days to hatching, with a further 24–27 days until the young fledge.
Black Rough-winged Swallow is a small swallow at 13–15 cm length with a forked tail. Its plumage is blue-glossed black. Sexes are similar, but the female has shorter outer tail feathers, and less obvious wing serrations. Juveniles are brown with little gloss, and have short tails.
There are many subspecies of this swallow, which some authorities may split into different species. In particular, four northeasten races, including nominate P. p. pristoptera, have conspicuous white underwing coverts (all other subspecies are green-glossed and have completely dark underwings), and may be split as the Eastern Rough-winged Swallow or Eastern Saw-wing (Swallow), P.orientalis. This leaves P. p. holomelaena as the Black Rough-winged Swallow, P. holomelaena. Other subspecies are also sometimes elevated to species status, but Turner and Rose take the view that all the races of the Black Rough-winged Swallow are, at best, incipient species.
Black Rough-winged Swallows are usually seen in pairs or small groups hunting for flying insects in woodland clearings and edges, above forest, or over water. Their flight is weak and fluttering.
This is a quiet species, but it gives a soft chrrp alarm call. There is also a contact call described for as chirr chirr cheeeu for P. p. holomelaena and tseeu tseu tsss-ip for orientalis.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the swallow
Swallow
The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...
family.
The Black Rough-winged Swallow breeds in open wooded habitats, and has a preference for wetter areas, although some races occur in mountain grassland habitat. It breeds across Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
from eastern Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
south to Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, northern Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
and northern Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
. The subspecies P. p. holomelaena breeds down south-eastern Africa from southern Mozambique to the Cape in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
This species is mainly resident, apart from seasonal local or altitudinal movements, but P. p. holomelaena is migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, spending the southern winter north of the breeding range. The nominate race P. p. pristoptera of the mountains of northern Ethiopia moves south after breeding.
The nest is constructed form grass, moss or similar materials, and built in a 30–60 cm long burrow in a vertical sand or clay bank. This is usually an old burrow of another species like a kingfisher
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
, but may be excavated by the breeding pair. The clutch is two, sometimes three, white eggs. Only one parent, probably the female, incubates for 14–19 days to hatching, with a further 24–27 days until the young fledge.
Black Rough-winged Swallow is a small swallow at 13–15 cm length with a forked tail. Its plumage is blue-glossed black. Sexes are similar, but the female has shorter outer tail feathers, and less obvious wing serrations. Juveniles are brown with little gloss, and have short tails.
There are many subspecies of this swallow, which some authorities may split into different species. In particular, four northeasten races, including nominate P. p. pristoptera, have conspicuous white underwing coverts (all other subspecies are green-glossed and have completely dark underwings), and may be split as the Eastern Rough-winged Swallow or Eastern Saw-wing (Swallow), P.orientalis. This leaves P. p. holomelaena as the Black Rough-winged Swallow, P. holomelaena. Other subspecies are also sometimes elevated to species status, but Turner and Rose take the view that all the races of the Black Rough-winged Swallow are, at best, incipient species.
Black Rough-winged Swallows are usually seen in pairs or small groups hunting for flying insects in woodland clearings and edges, above forest, or over water. Their flight is weak and fluttering.
This is a quiet species, but it gives a soft chrrp alarm call. There is also a contact call described for as chirr chirr cheeeu for P. p. holomelaena and tseeu tseu tsss-ip for orientalis.