From Opus

Photo by rudydbn.
Photo taken: Mkhuze Game Reserve, South Africa.

Cecropis abyssinica

Hirundo abyssinica

[edit] Identification

15-10 cm long. Dark blue blue upperparts, red rump, rufous-chestnut crown, nape and sides of the head. Underparts are white with dark streaking, black-brown upper wings and underwing flight feathers. Tawny underwing coverts. Black tail with very long outer feathers. Juveniles are duller and browner, with less contrast and shorter outer tail feathers.

[edit] Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa: From Senegal and southern Sudan south to eastern South Africa.

[edit] Taxonomy

Previously included in genus Hirundo

Lepage (2008) lists six subspecies

• C. a. abyssinica;
• C. a. maxima;
• C. a. unitatis;
• C. a. puella;
• C. a. bannermani; and
• C. a. ampliformis.

[edit] Habitat

Woodland, mainly lowland.

[edit] Behaviour

It builds a bowl-shaped mud nest with a tubular entrance and a soft lining. The nest may be build in a cave or under a rock overhang or a tree branch. 3 white, brown spotted eggs are laid and incubated by the female for 14-16 days. Both parents feed the chicks for 17-19 days till they fledge.

[edit] References

Lepage D. 2008. Avibase. Search for "Lesser Striped Swallow" downloaded 31 January 2008.

[edit] External Links