From Opus

Photo by nkgray
Phongolo Bush Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Psalidoprocne pristoptera

Includes Petit's, Shari, Blue, Brown, Ethiopian, Mangbettu and Eastern Sawwing

[edit] Identification

Length 17 cm, mass 11-13 g.

Adult: Plumage black with greenish gloss (head, body and lesser and median upper coverts) to blackish brown (flight feathers and greater wing coverts). The bill is black, the eyes dark brown, and the legs and feet are purplish.

[edit] Distribution

Photo by Alan Manson
Cedara Farm, KwaZulu-Natal

Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia in the north to eastern and southern South Africa in the south.

[edit] Taxonomy

12 subspecies accepted which are sometimes split in no fewer than 7 species:

• P. p. petiti - Petit's Sawwing - from SE Nigeria east to Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo
• P. p. chalybea - Shari Sawwing - from SE Nigeria east to Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo
• P. p. pristoptera - Blue Sawwing - Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia
• P. p. antinorii and P. p. blanfordi - Brown Sawwing - Ethiopia
• P. p. oleaginea - Ethiopian Sawwing - SW Ethiopia
• P. p. mangbettorum - Mangbettu Sawwing - NW Democratic Republic of Congo to SW Sudan
• P. p. orientalis and P. p. reichenowi - Eastern Sawwing - From Gabon and Angola east to Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique
• P. p. holomelas with ruwenzori and massaica - Black Sawwing - From Uganda to Kenya and Tanzania and south to South Africa

[edit] Habitat

Forest fringes, often near wetlands; also fringes of closed woodland.

[edit] Behaviour

Forages for aerial arthropods while flying fairly slowly in clearings and between trees.

[edit] Breeding

Monogamous. Nests in a burrow excavated in a soil bank that may be as low as 45 cm. One to three eggs are laid September to March.

[edit] References

Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ & Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Robert's Birds of Southern Africa, 7th edition. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. ISBN 0620340533

Lepage D. 2007. Avibase. Search for "Black Sawwing" downloaded March 2008.

[edit] External Links