Cecropis senegalensis
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The mosque swallow (Cecropis senegalensis) is a large species of swallow. It is a resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa, although most common in the west. It does not migrate but follows the rains to some extent.
In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the mosque swallow in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name L'hirondelle du Sénégal and the Latin Hirundo Senegalensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. In 1766, when Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the mosque swallow. Linnaeus included a brief description and used Brisson's Latin name for his binomial name Hirundo senegalensis.
Formerly placed in the genus Hirundo the mosque swallow and its relatives have been shown by molecular studies to be a separate clade and are now placed in the genus Cecropis, which was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826.
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With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mosque Swallow sighting in Accra on a given day, based on 61 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 55th most-seen of the 162 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Mosque Swallow in Accra on a given day, against under 5% in November and December, the lowest months. That is one of Accra's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain against 20 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mosque 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.
Yes
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Mosque Swallow sightings, Accra has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Mombasa (Kenya, under 5%) and Kampala (Uganda, under 5%).
Same family: Hirundinidae
The closest relatives of the Mosque Swallow that you can see in Accra (family Hirundinidae, Swallows and Martins) are Ethiopian Swallow (about 40%) and Barn Swallow (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mosque Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Accra (61 verified sightings), 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.
