Wire-tailed Swallow
Encyclopedia
The Wire-tailed Swallow (Hirundo smithii) is a small passerine bird
in the swallow family. Swallows are somewhat similar in habits and appearance to other aerial insectivore
s, such as the related martins and the unrelated swift
s (order Apodiformes
).
Wire-tailed Swallow breeds in Africa
south of the Sahara
and in tropical southern Asia from the India
n subcontinent east to southeast Asia. It is mainly resident, but populations in Pakistan
and northern India migrate
further south in winter.
This species is an uncommon vagrant to Sri Lanka
.
This bird is found in open country near water and human habitation. Wire-tailed Swallows are fast flyers and they generally feed on insect
s, especially flies, while airborne. They are typically seen low over water, with which they are more closely associated than most swallows.
The neat half-bowl nests are lined with mud collected in the swallows' beaks. They are placed on vertical surfaces near water under cliff ledges or more commonly on man-made structures such as buildings and bridges.
The clutch is three to four eggs in Africa, up to five in Asia (Turner and Rose). These birds are solitary and territorial nesters, unlike many swallows, which tend to be colonial.
This striking species is a small swallow at 14 cm in length. It has bright blue upperparts, except for a chestnut crown and white spots on the tail. The underparts are white, with darker flight feathers. There is a blue mask through the eye.
This species gets its name from the very long filamentous outermost tail feathers, which trail behind like two wires. Sexes manifest similar appearances, but the female has shorter "wires". Juveniles have a brown crown, back and tail. The Asian form, H. s. filifera, is larger and longer-tailed than the abundant African H. s. smithii.
The scientific name of this bird is after Professor Chetien Smith, a Norwegian botanist, who was a member of the British expedition to the Congo River
in 1816, led by James Kingston Tuckey
.
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 family. Swallows are somewhat similar in habits and appearance to other aerial insectivore
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
s, such as the related martins and the unrelated swift
Swift
The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are actually not closely related to passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds...
s (order Apodiformes
Apodiformes
Traditionally, the bird order Apodiformes contained three living families: the swifts , the tree swifts , and the hummingbirds . In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, this order is raised to a superorder Apodimorphae in which hummingbirds are separated as a new order, Trochiliformes...
).
Wire-tailed Swallow breeds in 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...
south of the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
and in tropical southern Asia from the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n subcontinent east to southeast Asia. It is mainly resident, but populations in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and northern India migrate
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...
further south in winter.
This species is an uncommon vagrant to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
This bird is found in open country near water and human habitation. Wire-tailed Swallows are fast flyers and they generally feed on insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, especially flies, while airborne. They are typically seen low over water, with which they are more closely associated than most swallows.
The neat half-bowl nests are lined with mud collected in the swallows' beaks. They are placed on vertical surfaces near water under cliff ledges or more commonly on man-made structures such as buildings and bridges.
The clutch is three to four eggs in Africa, up to five in Asia (Turner and Rose). These birds are solitary and territorial nesters, unlike many swallows, which tend to be colonial.
This striking species is a small swallow at 14 cm in length. It has bright blue upperparts, except for a chestnut crown and white spots on the tail. The underparts are white, with darker flight feathers. There is a blue mask through the eye.
This species gets its name from the very long filamentous outermost tail feathers, which trail behind like two wires. Sexes manifest similar appearances, but the female has shorter "wires". Juveniles have a brown crown, back and tail. The Asian form, H. s. filifera, is larger and longer-tailed than the abundant African H. s. smithii.
The scientific name of this bird is after Professor Chetien Smith, a Norwegian botanist, who was a member of the British expedition to the Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
in 1816, led by James Kingston Tuckey
James Kingston Tuckey
James Hingston Tuckey was an Irish-born British explorer and a captain in the Royal Navy. Some references refer to him as James Kingston Tuckey....
.