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Angola Swallow Hirundo angolensis Scientific name definitions

Angela Turner
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2004

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Field Identification

15 cm; 16–19 g. Has forehead deep rufous-chestnut, crown and upper­parts glossy steel-blue; wings and tail black, tail moderately forked, large white patches on inner webs of rectrices (except central pair); throat and upper breast deep rufous-chestnut, narrow blue breastband restricted or broken in centre, rest of underparts ashy-brown, under­tail-coverts and underwing-coverts darker. Distinguished from H. rustica and H. lucida by brownish underparts. Female has shorter tail than male. Juvenile is duller, with rufous areas paler, short tail.

Systematics History

Has been considered conspecific with H. lucida. E African birds described as race arcticincta, tending to be paler below and to have deeper tail fork, but differences not constant and biometrics intergrade with those of adjacent populations. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

W Gabon, S Congo and W & N Angola; C, NE & E DRCongo, Uganda and W Kenya S to N & NW Zambia, N, W & E Tanzania and N Malawi. Recorded breeding in NC Namibia, but past records from NE Namibia (Caprivi Strip) possibly misidentifications (1).

Habitat

Open country, grassland, cultivation, swamp and forest edge, clearings, and human habitations. Mainly lowlands; to 2600 m in E Africa.

Movement

Mainly resident; migratory in some areas, e.g. mostly absent in Zambia Dec–Mar. Forms flocks of up to 500 after breeding.

Diet and Foraging

Diet includes flies (Diptera), mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Hymenoptera and beetles (Coleoptera). Feeds alone, in pairs or in small groups, at low or medium heights; flight slow compared with that of H. rustica.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song is a weak twittering.

Breeding

May and Sept in Gabon, May and Aug–Sept in Angola, Jan–Jul and Oct–Dec in Uganda, May in Kenya, Nov–Feb in Tanzania, Mar–May, Aug, Oct and Dec in DRCongo, May–Dec in Zambia and Oct–Dec in Malawi; may have up to three broods. Solitary or in groups (e.g. once c. 150 nests on building); 21 nests were up to 30 m apart. Nest an open cup made of mud pellets mixed with grass, lined with dry grass and feathers, placed 3·5–6 m above ground under overhang on bank, cliff, rock, in cave, on bridge, on verandah, or under eaves of building. Clutch 2–4 eggs, usually 3; incubation period 17–18 days; fledging period 22–27 days, usually 23 days; fledglings return to nest to roost for 3 weeks or more. In study in Uganda, 69% of eggs hatched, with 62% of eggs laid and 90% of eggs hatched producing fledglings (respective averages of 2 nestlings and 1·8 fledglings per nest); of 17 nests, four fledged no young.
Not globally threatened. Rare to locally common. Uncommon in W of range; in E, commoner W of Rift Valley than E of it, but locally common in E Tanzania. Nests mainly in natural sites, but may be increasing its use of artificial ones; range possibly expanded relatively recently N into Gabon.
Distribution of the Angola Swallow - Range Map
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Distribution of the Angola Swallow

Recommended Citation

Turner, A. (2020). Angola Swallow (Hirundo angolensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.angswa1.01
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