- White-throated Swallow
Taxobox
name = White-throated Swallow
image_width = 250px
image_caption = In Boesmansriviermond, South-Africa.
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Hirundinidae
genus = "Hirundo "
species = "H. albigularis"
binomial = "Hirundo albigularis"
binomial_authority = Strickland, 1849The White-throated Swallow ("Hirundo albigularis") is a
swallow which breeds in southernAfrica fromAngola andZambia southwards to the Cape inSouth Africa . It is mainly migratory, wintering in Angola, Zambia and southernZaire .This is a bird of open country and grassland, with a preference for highlands and nearby water. It is often found around man-made structures. The White-throated Swallow builds a bowl-shaped mud nest with a soft lining of grass or hair. It is usually near or over water, and is built on a ledge under an overhang on a rock face or on a man-made structure such as a building, dam wall, culvert or bridge. Uninhabited buildings are preferred to houses. The nest may be reused for subsequent broods or in later years.
The three eggs of a typical clutch are white with brown and blue blotches, and are incubated by the female alone for 15-16 days to hatching. Both parents then feed the chicks. Fledging takes another 20-21 days, but the young birds will return to the nest to roost for a few days after the first flight. The young can swim a short distance to safety if they fall from the nest.
White-throated Swallow is 14-17 cm long. It has glossy dark blue upperparts and a bright chestnut crown. A dark blue-black breast band separates the white throat from the greyish white underparts and underwing coverts. The upper wings, underwing flight feathers and forked tail are blackish-blue, but the undertail has white patches near the feather tips. The white throat and blackish breast band are distinctions from similar "
Hirundo " species. The outer feathers are slightly longer in the male than the female. Juveniles are duller than the adult, with shorter outer tail feathers and a browner crown.White-throated Swallow is a common species, which has benefited from the increased nesting opportunities presented by the construction of bridges and dams. It feeds mainly on flying insects, with a fast twisting flight like a
Barn Swallow . The call is a a mix of warbles and twitters.References
* Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton, "SASOL Birds of Southern Africa", ISBN 1-86872-721-1
* Turner and Rose, "Swallows and Martins" ISBN 0-7470-3205-5
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