Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Passeriformes > Hirundinidae > Hirundo > Hirundo atrocaeruleaHirundo atrocaerulea (Blue Swallow)The blue swallow (Hirundo atrocaerulea) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. Swallows are somewhat similar in habits and appearance to other aerial insectivores, such as the related martins and the unrelated swifts (order Apodiformes). It breeds in southern Africa, wintering further north in Uganda and Kenya. This bird breeds in montane grassland, preferring high rainfall, undulating areas. In winter it prefers open grassland, with bushes and trees. The nest is usually attached to the roof or side of a hole in the ground. |
Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) Unique (100) Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) Unique & Vulnerable (100) ED Score: 5.55562 EDGE Score: 3.26662 |
| Adult Weight [1] | 13.8 grams | | Birth Weight [2] | 1.7 grams |  | | Diet [3] | Carnivore (Invertebrates) | | Diet - Invertibrates [3] | 100 % | | Forages - Aerial [3] | 40 % | | Forages - Canopy [3] | 10 % | | Forages - Mid-High [3] | 10 % | | Forages - Understory [3] | 40 % | | | Clutch Size [5] | 2 | | Incubation [4] | 15 days | | Migration [6] | Intracontinental |
|
| Name |
Countries |
Ecozone |
Biome |
Species |
Report |
Climate |
Land
Use |
|
Albertine Rift montane forests |
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi,Tanzania |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands and forests |
South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho |
Afrotropic |
Montane Grasslands and Shrublands |
|
|
|
|
|
Eastern Zimbabwe montane forest-grassland mosaic |
Zimbabwe, Mozambique |
Afrotropic |
Montane Grasslands and Shrublands |
|
|
|
|
|
South Malawi montane forest-grassland mosaic |
Malawi, Mozambique |
Afrotropic |
Montane Grasslands and Shrublands |
|
|
|
|
|
Southern Rift montane forest-grassland mosaic |
Malawi, Tanzania |
Afrotropic |
Montane Grasslands and Shrublands |
|
|
|
|
|
Victoria Basin forest-savanna mosaic |
Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
|
|
|
|
| Name |
Location |
IBA Criteria |
Website |
Climate |
Land Use |
|
Blue Swallow Natural Heritage Site |
South Africa |
A1, A2, A3 |
 |
|
|
|
Blyde river canyon |
South Africa |
A1, A2, A3, A4ii |
|
|
|
|
Busia grasslands |
Kenya |
A1, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Bvumba Highlands |
Zimbabwe |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Chimanimani Mountains |
Mozambique |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Chimanimani Mountains |
Zimbabwe |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Gorongosa Mountain and National Park |
Mozambique |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Graskop grasslands |
South Africa |
A1 |
|
|
|
|
Impendle Nature Reserve |
South Africa |
A1 |
|
|
|
|
Kitulo plateau |
Tanzania |
A1, A2 |
|
|
|
|
KwaZulu-Natal mistbelt grasslands |
South Africa |
A1, A4i |
|
|
|
|
Kyambura Wildlife Reserve |
Uganda |
A1, A3, A4i, A4iii |
|
|
|
|
Livingstone Mountains forests |
Tanzania |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Mabamba Bay |
Uganda |
A1, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Mac-Mac escarpment and forests |
South Africa |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Malolotja Nature Reserve |
Swaziland |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Minziro Forest Reserve |
Tanzania |
A1, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Misuku Hills Forest Reserves |
Malawi |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Mount Mulanje Forest Reserve |
Malawi |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Mount Rungwe |
Tanzania |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Mutinondo Wilderness |
Zambia |
|
|
|
|
|
Nabajjuzi Wetland |
Uganda |
|
|
|
|
|
Njombe forests |
Tanzania |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Ntchisi Mountain Forest Reserve |
Malawi |
A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Nyanga lowlands/Honde valley |
Zimbabwe |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Nyanga mountains |
Zimbabwe |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Nyika National Park |
Zambia |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Nyika National Park |
Malawi |
A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Ruma National Park |
Kenya |
A1 |
|
|
|
|
Sango Bay area |
Uganda |
A1, A3, A4i, A4iii |
|
|
|
|
South Viphya Forest Reserve |
Malawi |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Stapleford Forest |
Zimbabwe |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Umalila Mountains |
Tanzania |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Upemba National Park |
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
Wolkberg forest belt |
South Africa |
A1, A2, A3 |
|
|
|
|
| Name |
Location |
Endemic |
Species |
Website |
|
Eastern Afromontane |
Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zimbabwe |
No |
|
|
|
Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany |
Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland |
No |
|
|
|
 Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1Dowsett, RJ 1970. A collection of birds from the Nyika Plateau, Zambia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 90: 49–53 ♦ 2Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605 ♦ 3Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027 ♦ 4del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ♦ 5Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303 ♦ 6Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.orgEcoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database |
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0
|