Hirundo smithii
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The wire-tailed swallow (Hirundo smithii) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It is mainly resident, but populations in Pakistan and northern India migrate further south in winter. The genus name Hirundo is the Latin word for swallow. The species name smithii commemorates Christen Smith, a Norwegian botanist and geologist.
The wire-tailed swallow is a small swallow, measuring 18 cm (7.1 in) in length. It has bright blue upperparts, bright white underparts and a chestnut cap. Immature birds lack tail wires, and have dull brown (rather than chestnut) caps. The species is named for the very long filamentous outermost tail feathers, which trail behind like two wires. The sexes are similar in appearance, but the female has shorter "wires". Juveniles have a brown crown, back and tail.
This bird is found in open country near water and human habitation. Wire-tailed swallows are fast flyers and they generally feed... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Kota | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 4 | Indore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 6 | Nashik | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Lucknow | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Bhopal | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Kalyan-Dombivli | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Chandigarh | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Wire-tailed Swallow sighting in Akagera National Park on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 215th most-seen of the 320 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, July and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Wire-tailed Swallow in Akagera National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–June, August–September and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Wire-tailed Swallow sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
42nd of 50
Of the 50 parks where we can rate Wire-tailed Swallow sightings, Akagera National Park ranks 42nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 40%), Lower Zambezi National Park (Zambia, about 40%) and uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Hirundo
The closest relatives of the Wire-tailed Swallow that you can see in Akagera National Park (genus Hirundo, Typical Swallows) are Barn Swallow (about 30%) and Angola Swallow (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Wire-tailed Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Akagera National Park (26 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
