French: Hirondelle sud-africaine German: Klippenschwalbe Spanish: Golondrina sudafricana
Other common names:
South African Cliff Swallow
Valsch River, Free State, South Africa
Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, with scattered records from Lesotho; migrates N to SE Congo and W DRCongo.
14 cm; 16–26 g. Has pale rufous forehead and lores, dark brown crown, black head side and hindneck; upperparts deep blue-black, whitish streaks on mantle, rump pale... read more
No clear song; calls are a warbling chatter call, a threat call which is a harsher version of the... read more
Open grassland, lightly wooded savanna and semi-arid karoo.
Food and feeding
Diet includes beetles Coleoptera (especially Scarabaeidae and Curculionidae), dipterans (especially Muscidae and Drosophilidae), bugs (... read more
Sept–Apr; two or three broods reported for small proportion of pairs. Colonies of a few tens to several hundreds of pairs, up to c.... read more
Migratory. Highly gregarious after breeding. Present on breeding grounds in S Aug–Apr, a few... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Generally common in suitable habitat in main breeding range in South Africa; less common and more irregular in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and... read more
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