Hirundo domicola
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The hill swallow (Hirundo domicola) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in southern India and Sri Lanka. It is resident apart from some local seasonal movements. This bird is associated with coasts, but is increasingly spreading to forested uplands. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Pacific swallow.
This species is a small swallow at 13 cm (5.1 in). It has a blue back with browner wings and tail, a red face and throat, and dusky underparts. It differs from the barn swallow and the closely related welcome swallow in its shorter and less forked tail.
The hill swallow builds a neat cup-shaped nest, constructed with mud pellets collected in the beak, under a cliff ledge or on man-made structures such as a building, bridge or tunnel. The nest is lined with softer material, and the clutch is up to four eggs. Detailed studies on the breeding ecology of the species were conducted in Silent Valley National Park and Muthikkulam reserve forests of Kerala.
It is similar in behaviour to other aerial insectivores, such as other swallows and the unrelated swifts. It is a fast flyer and feeds... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Hill Swallow sighting in Bandipur National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 239th most-seen of the 256 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hill Swallow in Bandipur National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to July, the lowest months. That is one of Bandipur National Park's wettest months, with about 190 mm of rain against almost none in February.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hill Swallow sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
5th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Hill Swallow sightings, Bandipur National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Horton Plains National Park (Sri Lanka, about 80%), Eravikulam National Park (India, about 70%) and Mudumalai National Park (India, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hill Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Bandipur National Park (6 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.
