Ethiopian Swallow - BirdForum Opus

Photo by mohamed ismael
Khartoum, Sudan

Hirundo aethiopica

Identification

13 cm (5 in)

• Reddish forehead
• Dark blue crown and upperparts
• Black wings
• Bluish-black deeply forked tail

Distribution

Africa
Western Africa: Senegambia. Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea
Eastern Africa: Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

• H. a. aethiopica:

• Patchily distributed from Senegambia east to Benin, then more widespread from southern Niger and northern Benin east to western Ethiopia, south in East Africa to Uganda, Kenya, and northeastern Tanzania to southeast Sudan, western Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania

• H. a. amadoni:

• Eastern Ethiopia and Somalia to eastern Kenya

Habitat

Open areas near woodland, forest clearings and settlements. Also in coastal areas.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists of flies, bees, flying ants, termites and cicadas.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2015)
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Ethiopian Swallow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Ethiopian_Swallow

External Links

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