Mosque Swallow Cecropis senegalensis Scientific name definitions

24 cm; 38–54 g. Nominate race has glossy purple-blue or steel-blue crown and back, rufous collar which becomes very narrow on hindneck and is sometimes broken by dark blue feather tips, dark rufous rump; wings black with blue gloss, tail glossy blue-black, elongated outer tail feathers forming long streamers; cheeks, chin and throat cream to pale rufous; underparts rufous, paler on breast, and darker on flanks, abdomen and undertail-coverts; underwing-coverts creamy white to pale fawn. Distinguished from C. semirufa by larger size, shorter tail-streamers, whiter underwing-coverts, no white tail patches; from C. daurica by larger size, paler throat and underwing-coverts, rufous under­tail-coverts. Female has shorter tail than male. Juvenile is duller, browner above with rufous areas paler, tips of tertials, inner secondaries and uppertail-coverts pale rufous, shorter tail. Race <em>saturatior</em> is darker than nominate; <em>monteiri</em> is dark, has white patches in tail.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Grassland, savanna, bush, woodland, especially mopane woodland, clearings in forest, rivers, cultivation, also human habitations. To c. 2800 m. Compared with C. semirufa, found in more wooded areas and less often near human habitation.

Song is rambling mix of nasal, whining and creaking notes; calls  include a nasal “nyaa” contact call, a distinctive piping “pyuuuu” and a “mew” and “weh”.

Before and during rains in W Africa, e.g. Jul–Oct and Dec in Senegambia, Jan, Apr–Jul and Oct in Ghana, May–Aug in Nigeria and Feb–Sept in Cameroon; Apr, Jul and Nov in Ethiopia; mainly in rains in E Africa, e.g. Apr–May and Dec in Kenya, Feb–Jul and Oct–Dec in Uganda, and Jan–Feb, Apr, Oct and Dec in Tanzania; Apr–Jul in DRCongo, Nov–Jan in Angola, Aug–Apr in Zambia, Aug–May in Zimbabwe, and most months in South Africa; may be double-brooded. Solitary, nests well spaced out. Nest built by both sexes, taking up to 4 weeks, retort-shaped with long tunnel entrance, made of mud, lined with grass and feathers; species sometimes builds up a hole with mud , rather than making a full nest; nest often in hole in tree , especially baobab (Adansonia), alternatively in riverbank, termite mound, cliff, cave, bridge, culvert, or inside or on building; old nests of own or other species often repaired and reused. Clutch 2–4 eggs, usually 3; incubation and fledging periods not documented; fledglings roost in nest, sometimes over a period lasting several weeks.