Pearl-breasted Swallow

Hirundo dimidiata Sundevall, 1850

Pearl-breasted Swallow, Hirundo dimidiata, breeds in southern Africa and is a swallow of dry scrub, farmland and clearings, often near human habitation. It is a small bird with glossy blue upperparts and grey-white underparts, and its blackish-blue wings and forked tail help set it apart from similar Hirundo species because the tail lacks white. The outer tail feathers are a little longer in males than in females. Young birds are duller and browner, with shorter outer tail feathers. It was described by Sundevall in 1850.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Hirundinidae — Swallows, Martins

Breeding range

Africa: s, sc