Blue-and-white Swallow
Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
One of the most common and widespread Neotropical swallows. Small and compact with notched tail. Generally dark above and white below; best field mark is black undertail coverts sharply cut off from white belly. Flocks can be seen in towns and cities, open fields, bodies of water, and over forest. Often perches on telephone wires.
Identification
The adult blue-and-white swallow averages 11–12 cm (4.3–4.7 in) long and weighs about 10 g (0.35 oz). It has dark blue upperparts and white underparts, and its underwings and the undersurface of its short forked tail are blackish. The juvenile is brown above, buff-tinted below, and has a less forked tail. The call is a buzzing dzzzhreeee.<p>There are three subspecies. The nominate N. c. cyanoleuca occurs from Nicaragua and Trinidad south to northwestern Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The migratory southern race N. c. patagonica is larger, 13.5 cm (5.3 in), has paler underwings, and white basal undertail coverts. N. c. peruviana is restricted to coastal Peru up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) altitude. It is smaller than patagonica, has less white in the undertail, darker underwings and duskier flanks.
Taxonomy
The blue-and-white swallow was first formally described as Hirundo cyanoleuca by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817, based on a specimen he believed to be from Paraguay. The scientific name has the same meaning as the English common name.<p>This species was formerly placed in the genus Notiochelidon. It was moved to the resurrected genus Pygochelidon based on a phylogenetic study published in 2005.<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hirundinidae
- Genus
- Pygochelidon
Range and habitat
This is a swallow of open areas including villages and towns, farms, and forest clearings. In Central America, it is a highland bird, but elsewhere in its range it can occur from the lowlands to an altitude of 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
This species is often found in small flocks when not breeding. The blue-and-white swallow subsists primarily on a diet of insects, caught in the air; they have been seen to gather where termites swarm. The flight is typically fluttery, and this swallow frequently perches on wires or branches.<p>The blue-and-white swallow's shallow straw nest is built by both adults in a wide range of natural or man-made cavities include tree holes, rock crevices and bridges. The clutch is up to six white eggs in the south of the range, two or three in the north, which are incubated by both parents for 15 days to hatching. The nestlings are fed by both parents for 26 days to fledging, but return to the nest to sleep with the parents for up to two months. There may be two broods.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Dayak Blue Flycatcher
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Red-headed Fody
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A sparrow-like weaver. Red-hooded breeding males are distinctive, but females and non-breeding males are drab. A Comoros endemic that is found in and adjacent to humid forest on the western three islands, and in drier, scrubby lowland habitats on Mayotte. Plumage varies across the different islands. The most distinctive birds, on Grand Comoro, have much less red on the breast than other populations. Can be very similar to Red Fody. Breeding male Red-headed Fody lacks red on the back and belly, though molting male Red Fody can match this pattern. Females and non-breeding males very similar to Red Fody, but Red-headed Fody is larger, darker, and more greenish, with a longer, slightly curved bill. Also similar to female House Sparrow, but distinguished by the more olive-green coloration and the longer bill. Calls are high, silvery notes, given in long series as a song.
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