- Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
Identification
5-6" (13-15 cm). Sparrow-sized. A stocky, square-tailed swallow with pale buff rump. Upperparts dull steel-blue; underparts buff-white; throat dark chestnut; forehead white.
Similar Species
Cave Swallow of Texas and Southwest is similar but smaller, with darker rump and pale buff throat. Mexican birds have chestnut foreheads.
Distribution
Breeds from Alaska, Ontario, and Nova Scotia southward through most of United States (except Southeast) and in northern half of Mexico. Winters in South America.
Taxonomy
Cliff Swallow has in the past been placed in genus Hirundo.
Cliff Swallow nests on cliffs by the Rio Grande River, Big Bend National Park, Texas, April 2003
Subspecies
Four different subspecies are recognized[1]:
- P. p. pyrrhonota:
- breeds North America from western Alaska to southeastern Canada south to northwestern Mexico (northern Baja California) and the United States (except for the southwest); winters in South America, from Bolivia and southern Brazil to east central Argentina. Since 2015 also breeding locally in east central Argentina (this subspecies?), nonbreeding from the southern United States south to Colombia and Venezuela
- P. p. ganieri:
- P. p. tachina:
- South-western US to north-western Mexico and Baja; winters to South America
- P. p. melanogaster:
- South-eastern Arizona and New Mexico to Oaxaca; winters to South America
melanogaster is sometimes included in pyrrhonota but those sources then recognize a form minima[2].
Habitat
Open country near buildings or cliffs. Takes suburban area North ; lakeshores and marshes on migration.
Behaviour
Breeding
Nesting: 4-6 white eggs in a gourd-shaped structure of mud lined with feathers and placed on a sheltered cliff face or under eaves. Also nests on road bridges in large colonies.
Vocalisation
Constant squeaky chattering and twittering.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Lepage D. (2021) [Avibase - https://avibase.ca/1378C130 ]. Retrieved 2 April 2021
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Cliff Swallow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cliff_Swallow
