The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine birds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used colloquially in Europe as a synonym for the barn swallow. Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 19 genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory.
Buzzard is the common name of several species of bird, including:
The northern rough-winged swallow is a small, migratory swallow. It is very similar to the southern rough-winged swallow, Stelgidopteryx ruficollis.
The Fanti saw-wing, also known as the Fanti rough-winged swallow, is a small passerine bird in the swallow family.
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.
Stelgidopteryx is a small genus of swallows. It contains two species:
The Venezuelan troupial is the national bird of Venezuela. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Puerto Rico. Previously part of a superspecies simply named the troupial, it was recently split together with the orange-backed troupial and Campo troupial.
The saw-wings, Psalidoprocne, is a small genus of passerine birds in the swallow family. The common name of this group is derived from the rough outer edge of the outer primary feather on the wing, which is rough due to recurved barbs. The function of this is unknown. The birds are 11–17 cm long and black or black-and-white in colour. The genus has an African distribution and all species can be found foraging over forest and woodland. The last part of their scientific name comes from the eldest daughter of King Pandion of Athens, Procne, who was turned into a swallow after tricking her abusive husband.
The unspotted saw-whet owl is a small owl. It is a resident breeder in the highlands of Central America from southern Mexico south to western Panama, mainly at altitudes above 2500 m. It has occasionally been considered conspecific with the northern saw-whet owl. There are currently no recognized subspecies.
The buff-collared nightjar is a small nightjar. Adults are dark with brown, grey, black and white patterning on the upperparts and breast. The tail is dark brown, with darker finely barred markings throughout. The male has large white outer tail tips on the 3 outermost tail feathers. The female has buffy tail tips. These are most distinguishing characteristic to distinguish its identity from its closest relative the Whip-poor-will from where the bird gets its name. It shows a prominent buff-colored collar around its neck and nape. Its song is also very different. It sounds like an accelerating cuk, cuk, cuk, cuk, cuk, cukacheea.
The black saw-wing, also known as the blue saw-wing or black rough-winged swallow, is a small passerine bird in the swallow family.
The white-headed saw-wing, also known as the white-headed rough-winged swallow is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
The mountain saw-wing, also known as the mountain rough-winged swallow or the Cameroon Mountain rough-winged swallow is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae.
The square-tailed saw-wing, also known as the square-tailed rough-winged swallow is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
Abufari Biological Reserve is a biological reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is mostly lowland tropical rainforest, with very diverse flora and fauna.
