red-breasted swallow on a perch in the Serengeti
The red-breasted swallow , also known as the rufous-chested swallow, (Cecropis semirufa) is a large swallow, a member of the Hirundinidae family of swallows and martins. It breeds in equatorial Africa, although most common in the east. It is a partial migrant, following the rains beyond the breeding range in the wet season. The red-breasted swallow is similar to the mosque swallow but is slightly smaller and has longer tail streamers, both species having a blue crown and mantle contrasting with a rufous rump and underparts, In the red-breasted swallow the dark crown extends below the eye and there is no white on the underwing. The juvenile is similar to the red-rumped swallow but has blue on the side of the head rather than blue The red-breasted swallow is fund over most of Africa south of the Sahara from the Eastern Cape north to northern Namibia and southern Angola in the west and Mozambique in the east, with a disjunct range from Senegal south to northern Angola east to Uganda, south western Kenya and north western Tanzania. The red-breasted swallow is migratory in most of its range, in southern Africa is a summer visitor, nesting between July and March with most of the population migrating to equatorial Africa, although a few remain all year. In some parts of its range, in south-eastern Nigeria to Gabon it appears to be resident but is mostly a rainy season breeding visitor across its northern range
Size: 4424px × 3160px
Location: northern Serengeti, Tanzania
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: africa, bird, cecropis, red-breasted, rufous-chested, semirufa, serengeti, swallow, tanzania
