Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The cliff swallow or American cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) is a member of the passerine bird family Hirundinidae, the swallows and martins. The generic name Petrochelidon is derived from the Ancient Greek petros meaning "stone" and khelidon (χελιδών) "swallow", and the specific name pyrrhonota comes from purrhos meaning "flame-coloured" and -notos "-backed".
Cliff swallows are extremely social songbirds that can be found in large nesting colonies reaching over 2,000 nests. They are frequently seen flying overhead in large flocks during migration, gracefully foraging over fields for flying insects or perching tightly together on a wire preening under the sun.
Cliff swallows build gourd-shaped nests made from mud with small entrance holes. They build their nests tightly together, on top of one another, under bridges or alongside mountain cliffs. Living in large populations, these aerial insectivores use extensive vocalizations to communicate warnings or food availability to the other individuals.
The cliff swallow's average body length is 13 cm (5.1 in), and they have short legs and small bills with relatively long pointed wings. Adult cliff swallows have... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cliff Swallow sighting in Sacramento on a given day, based on 1,563 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 69th most-seen of the 235 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Cliff Swallow in Sacramento on a given day, against under 5% in September to February, the lowest months. Those are among Sacramento's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 120 mm in December.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cliff 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.
3rd of 47
Of the 47 cities where we can rate Cliff Swallow sightings, Sacramento ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Tijuana (México, about 30%) and Los Angeles (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Hirundinidae
The closest relatives of the Cliff Swallow that you can see in Sacramento (family Hirundinidae, Swallows and Martins) are Tree Swallow (about 20%), Barn Swallow (about 10%) and Northern Rough-winged Swallow (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cliff Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Sacramento (1,563 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.
