Wire-tailed Swallow 550496 218583324 2008-06-11T08:33:13Z Aesopos 3138216 {{Taxobox | name = Wire-tailed Swallow | status = LC | image = Wiretailedswallow brm.jpg | image_width = 250px | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[bird|Aves]] | ordo = [[Passeriformes]] | familia = [[Hirundinidae]] | genus = ''[[Hirundo]]'' | species = '''''H. smithii''''' | binomial = ''Hirundo smithii'' | binomial_authority = [[William Elford Leach|Leach]], 1818 }} The ''' Wire-tailed Swallow''' (''Hirundo smithii'') is a small [[perching bird|passerine]] [[bird]] in the [[Hirundinidae|swallow family]]. Swallows are somewhat similar in habits and appearance to other aerial [[insectivore]]s, such as the related [[Martin (bird)|martin]]s and the unrelated [[swift]]s (order [[Apodiformes]]). Wire-tailed Swallow breeds in [[Africa]] south of the [[Sahara]] and in tropical southern Asia from the [[India]]n subcontinent east to southeast Asia. It is mainly resident, but populations in [[Pakistan]] and northern India [[bird migration|migrate]] further south in winter. This species is an uncommon vagrant to [[Sri Lanka]]. This bird is found in open country near water and human habitation. Wire-tailed Swallows are fast flyers and they generally feed on [[insect]]s, especially flies, while airborne. They are typically seen low over water, with which they are more closely associated than most swallows. The neat half-bowl nests are lined with mud collected in the swallows' beaks. They are placed on vertical surfaces near water under cliff ledges or more commonly on man-made structures such as buildings and bridges. The clutch is three to four eggs in Africa, up to five in Asia. (Turner and Rose) These birds are solitary and territorial nesters, unlike many swallows, which tend to be colonial. This striking species is a small swallow at 14cm. It has bright blue upperparts, except for a chestnut crown and white spots on the tail. The underparts are white, with darker flight feathers. There is a blue mask through the eye. This species gets its name from the very long filamentous outermost tail feathers, which trail behind like two wires. Sexes manifest similar appearances, but the female has shorter "wires". Juveniles have a brown crown, back and tail. The Asian form, ''H. s. filifera'' is larger and longer-tailed than the abundant African ''H. s. smithii''. The scientific name of this bird is after Professor Chetien Smith, a Norwegian botanist, who was a member of the British expedition to the [[Congo River]] in 1816, led by [[James Kingston Tuckey]]. ==References== * {{IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=52171|title=Hirundo smithii|downloaded=May 12, 2006}} * ''Birds of India'' by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6 * ''Birds of The Gambia'' by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1 * ''Swallows and Martins'' by Turner and Rose, ISBN 0-7470-3202-5 [[Category:Hirundinidae]] [[Category:Birds of Africa]] [[Category:Birds of Asia]][[Category:Birds of Pakistan]] [[af:Draadstertswael]] [[eo:Dratvosta hirundo]] [[ru:Нитехвостая ласточка]]