Pearl-breasted Swallow
Hirundo dimidiata
A martin-like swallow with a bicolored plumage pattern of steel-blue upperparts and pale underparts. Pairs or small groups flit low over grassland, scrub, farmland, and open woodland, often near water. It is a migrant to the southern parts of South Africa, but it is resident elsewhere, with some poorly understood movements. The Pearl-breasted Swallow differs from House Martin and Gray-rumped Swallow by having a dark (not pale) rump and pale (not dark) underwings.
识别特征
The pearl-breasted swallow is 13–14 cm long. It has glossy blue upperparts and grey-white underparts. The upper wings, underwing flight feathers and forked tail are blackish-blue. The underwing coverts are a darker shade of grey-white. The lack of white in the tail is a distinction from similar Hirundo species. The outer feathers are slightly longer in the male than the female. Juveniles are duller and browner than the adult, with shorter outer tail feathers. The northern subspecies, H. d. marwitzi is darker and smaller than nominate H. d. dimidiata, but the differences are small, and the species may be monotypic.
分类信息
- 学名
- Hirundo dimidiata
- 命名信息
- Sundevall, 1850
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Hirundinidae
- 属
- Hirundo
分布与栖息地
The pearl-breasted swallow breeds in southern Africa from Angola, southern Congo and Tanzania southwards. It is sparsely distributed, but can be locally common. It is partially migratory with many birds from the southwest of South Africa wintering further north. This is a bird of dry scrub, farmland and clearings. It is often found around human habitation.
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
行为
The pearl-breasted swallow feeds mainly on flying insects, with a fast direct flight. The call is a chittering chip cheree chip chip.<p>It builds a bowl-shaped mud nest reinforced with grass or hair and with a soft lining. It sometimes uses old nests of the greater striped swallow, Cecropis cucullata. The nest may be reused in later years, and one was utilised for 30 years. The nest is built in natural cavities or man-made structures such as buildings, culverts and shafts, but its preference for isolated and abandoned buildings means that this species has not benefited from artificial sites to the same extent as, for example, the greater or lesser striped swallows. The two or three eggs are pure white, and are incubated by the female alone for 16–17 days to hatching. Both parents then feed the chicks. Fledging takes another 20–23 days, but the young birds will return to the nest to roost for a few days after the first flight.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- stable
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Orange River White-eye
Zosterops pallidus
A small, active, yellow-green warbler-like bird with an obvious white eye-ring. The peach-colored underparts are diagnostic. Pairs and groups are restricted to riverine and other woodlands in semi-arid country. The song is a rambling musical warble similar to Cape White-eye’s, but drier, softer, and more muted. The Cape White-eye is similar to the Orange River White-eye, and they hybridize where they meet, but pure Cape White-eyes have gray or green underparts.
Pallid Cuckoo
Heteroscenes pallidus
Large pale cuckoo, which lacks the warmer tones of both Fan-tailed and Brush cuckoos. Yellow eyering, and a dark indistinct stripe across the cheek. Has a distinctive call that has several notes, and tends to perch in prominent places or fence-posts while calling.
African Oystercatcher
Haematopus moquini
A plump, coastal shorebird that is glossy black in plumage with salmon-red legs and reddish eye, eye-ring, and bill. The juvenile is duller, with pink-brown bill and grayish-pink legs. Conspicuous on rocky coastlines and sandy shores, where it feeds on invertebrates like mussels, limpets, and worms. It is often first detected by its distinctive, high-pitched piping “pleek” and “peeka-peeka” alarm calls. Similar Eurasian Oystercatcher differs from African Oystercatcher by its white belly and throat.
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