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European Red-rumped Swallow
Cecropis rufula
Identify the European Red-rumped Swallow by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The European Red-rumped Swallow is a sleek swallow of southern Europe, north-west Africa and south-west to central Asia. It differs from the Barn Swallow in its warm buff underparts, pale rufous rump and nape, lack of a breast band and deeply forked tail whose black undertail looks dipped in ink. It breeds in open country, winters mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and has been expanding northward in Europe.
Did you know?
- Its black undertail makes the tail look as though it has been dipped in ink.
- It builds quarter-sphere mud nests with a tunnel entrance, often under bridges.
Voice
About the species
Identification
Told from Barn Swallow by the pale rump and rusty nape and by the lack of a dark breast band. The wings are slightly rounder and shorter and the tail shorter than in Barn Swallow; it is pale below and blue-black above, with black undertail coverts.
Family
Hirundinidae
Size
Small (sparrow)
Colours
orange, blue, black
About the habitat
Open, often hilly landscapes: montane grassland, farmland, villages and open woodland, with cliffs or buildings for nesting.
Diet
Flying insects caught on the wing, often foraging with other swallows and martins.
Behaviour
A graceful flier with frequent glides that hawks insects over open areas. It usually nests singly or in loose groups and is gregarious outside the breeding season. It builds an intricate quarter-sphere mud nest with a tunnel entrance under cliff overhangs, bridges and road underpasses.
Sources
Photo: Paulclee, CC0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red-rumped swallow in Calpe, Spain - May 2018 01.jpg
Sound: Qin Huang, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cecropis_daurica_-_Red-rumped_Swallow_XC307163.mp3
Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_red-rumped_swallow
