Southern rough-winged swallow
| Southern rough-winged swallow | |
|---|---|
.JPG) | |
| S. r. ruficollis The Pantanal, Brazil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Hirundinidae |
| Genus: | Stelgidopteryx |
| Species: | S. ruficollis |
| Binomial name | |
| Stelgidopteryx ruficollis (Vieillot, 1817) | |
The southern rough-winged swallow (Stelgidopteryx ruficollis) is a small swallow. It was first formally described as Hirundo ruficollis by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in 1817 in his Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle.[2]
It occurs in Central and South America from Honduras south to northern Argentina and Uruguay. It also occurs on Trinidad. Southern birds of the nominate race S. r. ruficollis, are migratory, moving north in winter, but the northern S. r. aequalis is sedentary.[3]
The adult is 13.5 cm (5.3 in) in length and weighs 15 g (0.53 oz). It is brown above, with blackish wings and tail and a pale grey rump. The throat and upper breast are rufous with the lower underparts yellowish-white. The tail is slightly forked. It is similar in appearance to its northern counterpart, the northern rough-winged swallow, but is more uniform in colour, particularly on the rump.
It is found in open areas and forest clearings. It nests in grass-lined cavities of various types, including holes in banks or walls, or disused kingfisher and jacamar nests. It does not form colonies. The clutch is 3–6 white eggs, incubated by the female for 16–18 days and with another 13 days to fledging.
Southern rough-winged swallows forage for insects in flight, usually flying low with a slow deliberate flight. The call is an unmusical chirrup.
"Rough-winged" refers to the serrated edge of the outer primary feathers on the wing of this bird; this feature would only be apparent when holding this bird.
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Stelgidopteryx ruficollis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ Vieillot, Louis Jean Pierre (1817). Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, nouvelle édition [New Dictionary of Natural History, new edition] (in French) 14. p. 523.
- ↑ Turner, Angela K.; Rose, Chris (1989). Swallows and Martins of the World: an identification guide and handbook. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 91–93. ISBN 0-395-51174-7.
- Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.
- ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton; Eckelberry, Don R. (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd ed.). Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stelgidopteryx ruficollis. |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Stelgidopteryx ruficollis |
- Southern rough-winged swallow videos, photos, and sounds at the Internet Bird Collection
- Southern rough-winged swallow photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Southern rough-winged swallow species account at NeotropicalBirds (Cornell University)
- Interactive range map of Stelgidopteryx ruficollis at IUCN Red List maps
- Audio recordings of Southern rough-winged swallow on Xeno-canto.
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