Photo by volker sthamer
Yergalem, Ethiopia, 2015
- Psalidoprocne pristoptera
Includes Petit's, Shari, Blue, Brown, Ethiopian, Mangbettu and Eastern Sawwing
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.
Distribution
Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia in the north to eastern and southern South Africa in the south.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
12 subspecies[1] accepted which are sometimes split in no fewer than 7 species:
- P. p. petiti - Petit's Sawwing - from South-eastern Nigeria east to Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo
- P. p. chalybea - Shari Sawwing - from South-eastern 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 - South-western Ethiopia
- P. p. mangbettorum - Mangbettu Sawwing - North-western Democratic Republic of Congo to South-western 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
Habitat
Forest fringes, often near wetlands; also fringes of closed woodland.
Behaviour
Diet
Forages for aerial arthropods while flying fairly slowly in clearings and between trees.
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.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
- Lepage D. 2007. Avibase. Search for "Black Sawwing" downloaded March 2008.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Saw-wing. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Saw-wing
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
