Lesser Striped Swallow
Cecropis abyssinica
A rather small, neat swallow with a distinctive burnt-orange skullcap extending onto the cheeks like a helmet, a rufous rump, and boldly streaked underparts. It is mostly resident in equatorial Africa, and a wet season breeding visitor to the northwest and southeast parts of its range. Pairs and small groups forage over grassland, woodland, and cultivation, generally at lower elevations than Greater Striped Swallow. The flight is fairly strong, much like that of a Barn Swallow. The larger Greater Striped Swallow is similar to Lesser Striped Swallow but with fewer and finer streaks, especially on the throat and ears, giving it a more open-faced appearance.
Identification
The lesser striped swallow is 15–10 cm long. It has dark blue upperparts with a red rump and a rufous-chestnut crown, nape and sides of the head. The underparts are white with dark streaking, and the upper wings and underwing flight feathers are blackish-brown. The underwing coverts are tawny. The blackish tail has very long outer feathers; these are slightly longer in the male than the female. Juveniles are duller and browner, with less contrast and shorter outer tail feathers. There are five or six subspecies differing in the extent of the underpart streaking.<p>The lesser striped swallow has heavier and darker underparts striping, a deeper red rump, and a brighter head colour than the larger greater striped swallow.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cecropis abyssinica
- Authority
- (Guérin-Méneville, 1843)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hirundinidae
- Genus
- Cecropis
Range and habitat
This is a bird of wooded, mainly lowland habitats. The lesser striped swallow prefers less open habitats, and is replaced in montane grassland by the greater striped swallow, Hirundo cucullata. It is common and often found around human habitation.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
It feeds mainly on flying insects, but has been known to eat small fruits. The flight is erratic, and the call is a nasal zeh zeh zeh zeh zeh.<p>The lesser striped swallow builds a bowl-shaped mud nest with a tubular entrance on the underside of a suitable structure. The nest has a soft lining, and may be reused in later years. The nest may be built in a cave, under a rock overhang or a tree branch. This species has benefited from its willingness to use buildings, bridges, culverts and similar structures. Given the choice, it will select a high nest site.<p>The eggs are glossy white sometimes with a few brown spots; three eggs are a typical clutch. Incubation is by the female alone for 14–16 days to hatching. Both parents then feed the chicks. Fledging takes another 17–19 days, but the young birds will return to the nest to roost for a few days after their first flight.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-chested Cuckoo
Cuculus solitarius
A mostly grayish cuckoo with banding below, including a broad rusty band across the upper breast. The immature has barred underparts and a charcoal back, throat, and breast. It can be very secretive, and when it flies fast on pointed wings, it strongly resembles a small goshawk. Its brood-parasite hosts include wagtails, robin-chats, and thrushes. Resident and (in the southern parts of its range) migrant. Its presence is most often evidenced by its incessant and loud three-note “Pete-my-wife” song.
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Larus fuscus
Slender, long-winged gull, slightly smaller than Herring Gull. Adults show dark gray back and yellow legs; in winter note fairly heavy streaking on head and neck. Takes four or five years to reach adult plumage; immatures can be difficult to distinguish from other gulls, especially Herring. On first- or second-year birds, look for contrastingly whitish head with dark smudge around the eye, long wings, dark bill, whitish rump and tail base, and evenly dark wings in flight. Can be found around any body of water but prefers beaches and flats. Often with flocks of other large gulls. Common in Eurasia, wintering to Africa and Southeast Asia. Population in North America has increased dramatically in the last couple decades; now regular (even fairly common!) on the Atlantic coast, rarer inland and farther west.
Jocotoco Antpitta
Grallaria ridgelyi
Large antpitta with a tiny range in southeast Ecuador. Unmistakable. Typical antpitta shape: plump and short-tailed with long legs, like a grapefruit on stilts. Brown above and pale silvery-gray below with a black cap and thick white mustache patch. Rare and local on or near the ground in the upper subtropical zone from around 2,300 to 2,600 m; especially fond of bamboo patches. Essentially never seen away from the Tapichalaca Reserve in Ecuador, where several birds have been trained to eat worms.
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