Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The blue-and-white swallow (Pygochelidon cyanoleuca) is a passerine bird that breeds from Nicaragua south throughout South America, except in the deserts and the Amazon Basin. The southern race is migratory, wintering as far north as Trinidad, where it is a regular visitor. The nominate northern race may have bred on that island.
The blue-and-white swallow was first formally described as Hirundo cyanoleuca by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817, based on a specimen he believed to be from Paraguay. The scientific name has the same meaning as the English common name.
This species was formerly placed in the genus Notiochelidon. It was moved to the resurrected genus Pygochelidon based on a phylogenetic study published in 2005. Three subspecies are recognised: It has dark blue upperparts and white underparts, and its underwings and the... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arequipa | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 2 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Niterói | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Cochabamba | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 6 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 9 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Santos | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-white Swallow sighting in Santiago on a given day, based on 851 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 110 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.
October to January
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-white Swallow in Santiago on a given day, against under 5% in March to August, the lowest months. Those are among Santiago's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 65 mm in June.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-and-white 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.
28th of 33
Of the 33 cities where we can rate Blue-and-white Swallow sightings, Santiago ranks 28th at about 10%. The best odds are in Arequipa (Peru, about 80%), Belo Horizonte (Brazil, about 70%) and San José (Costa Rica, about 70%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-and-white Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Santiago (851 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.
