Hirundo dimidiata
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The pearl-breasted swallow (Hirundo dimidiata) is a small swallow. The pearl-breasted swallow is 13–14 cm long. It has glossy blue upperparts and grey-white underparts. The upper wings, underwing flight feathers and forked tail are blackish-blue. The underwing coverts are a darker shade of grey-white. The lack of white in the tail is a distinction from similar Hirundo species. The outer feathers are slightly longer in the male than the female. Juveniles are duller and browner than the adult, with shorter outer tail feathers.
The pearl-breasted swallow breeds in southern Africa from Angola, southern Congo and Tanzania southwards. It is sparsely distributed, but can be locally common. It is partially migratory with many birds from the southwest of South Africa wintering further north. This is a bird of dry scrub, farmland and clearings. It is often found around human habitation.
The pearl-breasted swallow feeds mainly on flying insects, with a fast direct flight. The... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 6 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 7 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 8 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 9 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 11 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 12 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pearl-breasted Swallow sighting in Hwange National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 281st most-seen of the 308 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pearl-breasted Swallow in Hwange National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–July and September–November, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pearl-breasted 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.
8th of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Pearl-breasted Swallow sightings, Hwange National Park ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa, about 30%), West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 30%) and Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa, about 20%).
Same genus: Hirundo
The closest relatives of the Pearl-breasted Swallow that you can see in Hwange National Park (genus Hirundo, Typical Swallows) are Barn Swallow (about 20%) and Wire-tailed Swallow (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pearl-breasted Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Hwange National Park (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.
