Blue-and-white swallow | |
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In Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Hirundinidae |
Genus: | Pygochelidon |
Species: | P. cyanoleuca |
Binomial name | |
Pygochelidon cyanoleuca (Vieillot, 1817) | |
Range map of Blue-and-white Swallow (Pygochelidon cyanoleuca) Breeding Year-round Non-breeding | |
Synonyms | |
Hirundo cyanoleucaVieillot, 1817 Contents |
The blue-and-white swallow (Pygochelidon cyanoleuca) is a passerine bird that breeds from Nicaragua south throughout South America, except in the deserts and the Amazon Basin. The southern race is migratory, wintering as far north as Trinidad, where it is a regular visitor. The nominate northern race may have bred on that island. [2]
The blue-and-white swallow was first formally described as Hirundo cyanoleuca by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817, based on a specimen he believed to be from Paraguay. [3] The scientific name has the same meaning as the English common name.
This species was formerly placed in the genus Notiochelidon . It was moved to the resurrected genus Pygochelidon based on a phylogenetic study published in 2005. [4] [5] [6]
Three subspecies are recognised: [6]
The adult blue-and-white swallow averages 11–12 cm (4.3–4.7 in) long and weighs about 10 g (0.35 oz). It has dark blue upperparts and white underparts, and its underwings and the undersurface of its short forked tail are blackish. The juvenile is brown above, buff-tinted below, and has a less forked tail. The call is a buzzing dzzzhreeee. [7]
There are three subspecies. The nominate N. c. cyanoleuca occurs from Nicaragua and Trinidad south to northwestern Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The migratory southern race N. c. patagonica is larger, 13.5 cm (5.3 in), has paler underwings, and white basal undertail coverts. N. c. peruviana is restricted to coastal Peru up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) altitude. It is smaller than patagonica, has less white in the undertail, darker underwings and duskier flanks. [7]
This is a swallow of open areas including villages and towns, farms, and forest clearings. In Central America, it is a highland bird, but elsewhere in its range it can occur from the lowlands to an altitude of 4,000 m (13,000 ft). [7] [8]
This species is often found in small flocks when not breeding. The blue-and-white swallow subsists primarily on a diet of insects, caught in the air; they have been seen to gather where termites swarm. [9] The flight is typically fluttery, and this swallow frequently perches on wires or branches. [7]
The blue-and-white swallow's shallow straw nest is built by both adults in a wide range of natural or man-made cavities include tree holes, rock crevices and bridges. The clutch is up to six white eggs in the south of the range, two or three in the north, which are incubated by both parents for 15 days to hatching. The nestlings are fed by both parents for 26 days to fledging, but return to the nest to sleep with the parents for up to two months. There may be two broods. [7]
This common and popular species has benefited greatly from deforestation and human settlement which have increased the amount of suitable habitat and food. [7] Consequently, it is not considered threatened by the IUCN. [1] [10]
The bluish-grey saltator or Amazonian grey saltator is a passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae that is widespread in semi-open habitats in tropical and subtropical South America.
The common potoo, or poor-me-ones, or urutau is one of seven species of birds within the genus Nyctibius. It is notable for its large, yellow eyes and a wide mouth. Potoos are nocturnal and are related to nightjars and frogmouths. They lack the characteristic bristles around the mouths of true nightjars.
The southern rough-winged swallow 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.
The Caribbean martin or white-bellied martin is a large swallow.
The tropical kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher. This bird breeds from southern Arizona and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States through Central America, South America as far as south as central Argentina and eastern Peru, and on Trinidad and Tobago. Birds from the northernmost and southern breeding areas migrate to warmer parts of the range after breeding.
The rufous-browed peppershrike is a passerine bird in the vireo family. It is widespread and often common in woodland, forest edge, and cultivation with some tall trees from Mexico and Trinidad south to Argentina and Uruguay.
The swallow-tailed kite is a pernine raptor which breeds from the southeastern United States to eastern Peru and northern Argentina. It is the only species in the genus Elanoides. Most North and Central American breeders winter in South America where the species is resident year round.
The grey-breasted martin is a large swallow from Central and South America.
The white-winged swallow is a resident breeding swallow in tropical South America from Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, and Argentina. It is not found west of the Andes. This swallow is largely non-migratory.
The red-crowned ant tanager is a medium-sized passerine bird from tropical America. The genus Habia was long placed with the tanagers (Thraupidae), but it is actually closer to the cardinals (Cardinalidae). Consequently, it can be argued that referring to the members of this genus as ant-tanagers is misleading, but no other common name has gained usage.
The savanna hawk is a large raptor found in open savanna and swamp edges. It was formerly placed in the genus Heterospizias. It breeds from Panama and Trinidad south to Bolivia, Uruguay and central Argentina. There are also reports of it in California, from 1973 in Alameda County and from 1974 in San Diego County.
The gray-lined hawk is a smallish raptor found in open country and forest edges. It is sometimes placed in the genus Asturina as Asturina nitida. The species has been split by the American Ornithological Society from the gray hawk. The gray-lined hawk is found from El Salvador to Argentina, as well as on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.
The blue ground dove is a small New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from southeastern Mexico to northwestern Peru and northern Argentina, and on Trinidad in the Caribbean.
The golden-hooded tanager is a medium-sized passerine bird. This tanager is a resident breeder from southern Mexico south to western Ecuador.
The tityras are passerine birds in the genus Tityra of the family Tityridae. They are found from southern Mexico, through Central America, to northern and central South America, including Trinidad.
The white-throated swallow is a small bird in the swallow family. It is a common species, found in southern Africa, which has benefited from the increased nesting opportunities presented by the construction of bridges and dams.
The pale-footed swallow is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. It is found in the northern Andes, from Venezuela to Bolivia. It is monotypic.
Pygochelidon is a genus of birds in the swallow family Hirundinidae that occur in the Neotropics.
The wing-barred seedeater is a passerine bird from coastal regions of north-eastern South America in north-eastern Venezuela, Tobago, the Guianas, Amapá and north-eastern Pará, Brazil, and along the Amazon River upstream to around Manaus. Formerly, it included the mainly Central American Sporophila corvina and the west Amazonian S. murallae as subspecies, in which case the combined species had the common name Variable Seedeater. Following the split, this common name is now restricted to S. corvina.
The crowned woodnymph or violet-crowned woodnymph, is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found from Belize and Guatemala to far-northern Peru.