Southern Rough-winged Swallow

Southern Rough-winged Swallow

Stelgidopteryx ruficollis

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Cali

In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%

357 Verified sightings at Cali
19,469 In all 56 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Southern Rough-winged Swallow

The southern rough-winged swallow (Stelgidopteryx ruficollis) a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae, the swallows and martins. It is found in Central America from Honduras south, in every mainland South American country except Chile, on Trinidad, and as a vagrant to Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Tobago, and the Falkland Islands.

The southern rough-winged swallow was originally described in 1817 as Hirundo ruficollis by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in his Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle. It was later reassigned to its present genus Stelgidopteryx which was erected in 1858. For much of the twentieth century it and what is now the northern rough-winged swallow (S. serripennis) were treated as conspecific. They are the only members of the genus and form a superspecies.

The southern rough-winged swallow has these four subspecies: The sexes have almost the same plumage. Adult males of the nominate... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Flight call0:17

Ecuador · 2024

© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1178754 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Recording0:19

Brazil · 2026

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC1090535 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:36

Ecuador · 2025

© Marc Anderson · XC1077669 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~70%
2 Serra da Canastra National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~60%
3 Emas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~50%
4 Serra dos Órgãos National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~40%
5 Tayrona National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~40%
6 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
~30%
7 Farallones de Cali National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~30%
8 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
9 Chapada dos Guimarães National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
10 Anavilhanas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
11 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~20%
12 Chapada Diamantina National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
13 Itatiaia National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
14 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~20%
15 Machalilla National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~20%
16 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~20%
17 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
~20%
18 El Impenetrable National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~20%
19 San Lorenzo Protected Forest 🇵🇦 Panama
~20%
20 Amacayacu National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
21 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
22 Piedras Blancas National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
23 Henri Pittier National Park 🇻🇪 Venezuela
~10%
24 Tijuca National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
25 Sierra de la Macarena National Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
26 Utría National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
27 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
28 Corcovado National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
29 Caroni Swamp 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
~10%
30 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
31 Iguazú National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
32 El Palmar National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
33 Podocarpus National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~10%
34 Cahuita National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
35 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
36 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
37 Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
38 Marino Ballena National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
39 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
40 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
41 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
42 Las Baulas Marine National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
43 Rincón de la Vieja National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
44 Manuel Antonio National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
45 Tenorio Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
46 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
47 Irazú Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
48 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
49 Chirripó National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
50 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
51 Palo Verde National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
52 Yasuní National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
53 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
54 Main Ridge Forest Reserve 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
<5%
55 Volcán Barú National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
56 Poás Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Salvador 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
2 João Pessoa 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
3 Recife 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
4 Cali 🇨🇴 Colombia
~20%
5 Goiânia 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
6 Panama City 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
7 Rio de Janeiro 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
8 Vitória 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
9 Belo Horizonte 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
10 Medellín 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Southern Rough-winged Swallow in Cali?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Rough-winged Swallow sighting in Cali on a given day, based on 357 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 44th most-seen of the 226 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Southern Rough-winged Swallow in Cali?

January–February, May, July and September–October

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Rough-winged Swallow in Cali on a given day, against about 10% in March–April, June, August and November–December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Southern Rough-winged Swallow?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Rough-winged 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.

Is Cali the best place to see a Southern Rough-winged Swallow?

Among the best

Of the 28 cities where we can rate Southern Rough-winged Swallow sightings, Cali ranks 4th at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Salvador (Brazil, about 20%), João Pessoa (Brazil, about 20%) and Recife (Brazil, about 20%).

Where does the Southern Rough-winged Swallow sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Southern Rough-winged Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Cali (357 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.

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