Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
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 |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-white Swallow sighting in Los Quetzales National Park on a given day, based on 6,249 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 252 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and April
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-white Swallow in Los Quetzales National Park on a given day, against about 30% in October, the lowest month. Those are among Los Quetzales National Park's driest months, with about 210 mm of rain a month against 730 mm in October.
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.
Among the best
Of the 45 parks where we can rate Blue-and-white Swallow sightings, Los Quetzales National Park ranks 2nd at about 60%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-and-white Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Quetzales National Park (6,249 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.
