Wire-tailed swallow
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| Wire-tailed swallow | |
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| File:Wire-Tailed Swallow (Hirundo smithii) Photograph By Shantanu Kuveskar.jpg | |
| From Mangaon, Maharashtra, India | |
| Scientific classification | |
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H. smithii
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| Binomial name | |
| Hirundo smithii Leach, 1818
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The wire-tailed swallow (Hirundo smithii) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It has two subspecies: H. s. smithii, which occurs throughout Africa, and H. s. filifera, which is found in southern and southeastern Asia. It is mainly resident, but populations in Pakistan and northern India migrate further south in winter.
This bird is found in open country near water and human habitation. Wire-tailed swallows are fast flyers and they generally feed on insects, 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 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.
Taxonomy and systematics
The wire-tailed swallow is a member of the genus Hirundo, a cosmopolitan group of "barn swallows". It has two subspecies:[2]
- H. s. smithii was first described by William Elford Leach and K. D. Koenig in 1818.[3] Known as the African wire-tailed swallow, it is found throughout Africa.[2]
- H. s. filifera was first described by Stephens in 1826.[3] Also known as the Asian wire-tailed swallow, it is found in southern and southeastern Asia.[2]
The genus name Hirundo is the Latin word for swallow.[4] The species name smithii commemorates Christen Smith, a Norwegian botanist and geologist.[5]
Description
The wire-tailed swallow is a small swallow, measuring 18 cm (7.1 in) in length. It has bright blue upperparts, bright white underparts and a chestnut cap. Immature birds lack tail wires, and have dull brown (rather than chestnut) caps.[6]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Jobling (2010), p. 193.
- ↑ Jobling (2010), p. 358.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Cited texts
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- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
- Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1
- Swallows and Martins by Turner and Rose, ISBN 0-7470-3202-5
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hirundo smithii. |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Hirundo smithii |
External links
- Wire-tailed Swallow - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
