Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-white Swallow sighting in Yasuní National Park on a given day, based on 88 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 324th most-seen of the 533 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.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-white Swallow in Yasuní National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
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.
38th of 45
Of the 45 parks where we can rate Blue-and-white Swallow sightings, Yasuní National Park ranks 38th at under 5%. The best odds are in Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 60%), Los Quetzales National Park (Costa Rica, about 60%) and Itatiaia National Park (Brazil, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Hirundinidae
The closest relatives of the Blue-and-white Swallow that you can see in Yasuní National Park (family Hirundinidae, Swallows and Martins) are White-winged Swallow (about 40%), Gray-breasted Martin (about 30%) and White-banded Swallow (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-and-white Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Yasuní National Park (88 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.
