Notiochelidon pileata
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The black-capped swallow (Atticora pileata) is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae, the swallows and martins. It is found in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico. The black-capped swallow was described in 1858 as Atticora pileata. For much of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first it was reclassified in genus Notiochelidon. Based in part on a study published in 2005, beginning in 2016 taxonomic systems returned it to Atticora.
The black-capped swallow is monotypic. The black-capped swallow is about 11.5 to 13.5 cm (4.5 to 5.3 in) long and weighs about 12 g (0.42 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a glossy black head with brown-speckled white cheeks and throat. Their back is sepia brown, their rump a darker brown, and their uppertail coverts dark sooty brown. Their tail longish, forked, and dull sooty black. Their wing's lesser coverts are black to brownish black, their secondary and inner greater coverts are dark grayish brown, and their flight feathers brownish black. The center of their breast and their belly are white, their flanks grayish brown, and their undertail coverts sooty black or very... Wikipedia →
Recording
© Peter Boesman · XCXC879976 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Recording
© Brendan Sloan · XCXC919845 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Recording
© Alfonso Auerbach · XCXC488526 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Triunfo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Celaque National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Swallow sighting in El Triunfo on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 206th most-seen of the 221 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Swallow in El Triunfo on a given day, against under 5% in May and July–March, the lowest months. That is one of El Triunfo's driest months, with about 65 mm of rain against 420 mm in June. June has too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-capped 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 2 parks where we can rate Black-capped Swallow sightings, El Triunfo has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Celaque National Park (Honduras, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-capped Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in El Triunfo (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
