Hirundo smithii
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Wire-tailed Swallow sighting in Lusaka on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 44th most-seen of the 87 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Wire-tailed Swallow in Lusaka on a given day, against under 5% in July–August and November–December, the lowest months. That is one of Lusaka's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain against almost none in August.
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.
30th of 58
Of the 58 cities where we can rate Wire-tailed Swallow sightings, Lusaka ranks 30th at about 10%. The best odds are in Zanzibar City (Tanzania, about 70%), Kota (India, about 30%) and Serrekunda (Gambia, about 30%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Wire-tailed Swallow that you can see in Lusaka (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Common Bulbul (about 90%), Pied Crow (about 90%) and Variable Sunbird (about 80%), 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 Lusaka (23 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.
