Hirundo aethiopica
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The Ethiopian swallow (Hirundo aethiopica) is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. Although it is non-migratory, its range is wide, extending from Benin to Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Israel, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda.
It is often confused with the wire-tailed swallow. It breeds and nests on cliffs and in buildings. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Ethiopian Swallow sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 270th most-seen of the 341 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ethiopian Swallow in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February–May and July–December, the lowest months. Those are among Samburu National Reserve's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 95 mm in April.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ethiopian 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.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Ethiopian Swallow sightings, Samburu National Reserve ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Awash National Park (Ethiopia, about 20%).
Same genus: Hirundo
The closest relatives of the Ethiopian Swallow that you can see in Samburu National Reserve (genus Hirundo, Typical Swallows) are Barn Swallow (about 30%) 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 Ethiopian Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Samburu National Reserve (17 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.
