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Pearl-breasted Swallow Hirundo dimidiata Scientific name definitions

Angela Turner
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated October 5, 2018

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

13 cm; 10–15 g. Male is glossy blue above, wings blackish with slight blue gloss; tail slightly forked, blackish, usually without any white; grey-white below , grey wash on breast , dark tips of undertail-coverts. Distinguished from <em>Delichon urbicum</em> and <em>Pseudhirundo griseopyga</em> by lack of pale rump. Female has shorter tail and greener gloss than male. Juvenile is duller, with white tips to inner secondaries, shorter tail. Race marwitzi is smaller and darker than nominate.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

See H. leucosoma. Closely related to H. megaensis (which see). Races poorly differentiated. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Hirundo dimidiata marwitzi Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Angola, S DRCongo, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, NE South Africa and W Mozambique.
SUBSPECIES

Hirundo dimidiata dimidiata Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Namibia and Botswana S to the Cape. S populations migrate N.

Distribution

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.

Habitat

Grassland, scrub, broadleaf woodland, miombo woodland edge and clearings, cultivation, and human habitations, often near water; also seen over swampy ground.

Movement

Mainly resident with some post-breeding movement in N. Migratory S of c. 26° S; details not clear, but apparent influx in non-breeding season (mainly May–Jul) into N Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and DRCongo. A few records from SW Tanzania, but uncertain whether these involve non-breeding migrants or a small breeding population.

Diet and Foraging

Details of diet not known. Forages alone, in pairs or in small groups, occasionally in flocks of up to 100. Feeds, probably on flies, around livestock and other animals; flies fast, often low down. Often perches on ground or stones.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song is a harsh “chip-cheree-chip-chip”; also a courtship call “kss-kss”, “twit” calls uttered in flight and a “chik”, “chut” and “chuchut”.

Breeding

Aug–Oct in DRCongo, Aug–Sept in Zambia and Malawi, Sept in Mozambique, Oct–Jan in Namibia, Aug–Feb in Zimbabwe; Aug–Mar (mainly Aug–Oct) in E South Africa, but Aug–Apr (peak Oct–Dec) in the Cape; usually two broods, sometimes three in S. Solitary; occasionally in small groups in DRCongo. Nest built by both sexes, mainly male, over 3–4 weeks, an open bowl made of mud pellets and grass, lined with grass, hair, rootlets and feathers; affixed to wall or beam near roof of usually uninhabited building (especially hut with thatched roof, barn, poultry house), or on culvert, in mine or well, on rock, or in aardvark (Orycteropus afer) or porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis) burrow; nest of Cecropis cucullata sometimes used; nest reused for second brood, also in successive years. Clutch 2–4 eggs, usually 2–3, and one of 6 eggs reported; incubation by female, period 16–17 days; female also broods nestlings for at least 7 days, both sexes feed chicks, fledging period 20–23 days; young return to nest for several nights, fed by parents for a further 20 days.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Usually scarce and sparsely distributed, but can be locally common. Occurs throughout the year in Botswana but breeding not recorded there. Since 1900, numbers have increased in the Cape but decreased in Zimbabwe. Will use artificial nest-sites but, when it does, seems to prefer isolated, uninhabited buildings, and so has not benefited greatly from this habit; in South Africa, breeding on buildings largely restricted to W Cape. May suffer some competition for artificial sites from larger species; effects, if any, on population not known.
Distribution of the Pearl-breasted Swallow - Range Map
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Distribution of the Pearl-breasted Swallow

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Turner, A. (2020). Pearl-breasted Swallow (Hirundo dimidiata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.pebswa1.01
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