Greater Striped Swallow ( Hirundo cucullata, family: Hirundinidae)

greater striped swallow kruger national park birds The Greater Striped Swallow (Latin name Hirundo cucullata) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 526 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 755 also a picture of the Greater Striped Swallow on page 816. The Greater Striped Swallow belongs to the family of birds classified as Hirundinidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Greater Striped Swallow is also known by these other names: Larger Striped Swallow.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

Near endemic species is one that is confined to a specific geographical region rather than a single country for example. Certain birds in The Kruger National Park are near endemic to Mozambique, and Zimbabwe for example. One such example is the Greater Striped Swallow and this species depends upon a certain type of habitat for survival. Destroy that habitat and the bird becomes endangered.

In terms of distribution of the Greater Striped Swallow in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Greater Striped Swallow : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Greater Striped Swallow is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Greater Striped Swallow is about 20 cms and its weight is about 27 gms

The male and female Greater Striped Swallow have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is chestnut.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white, black.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are brown.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Greater Striped Swallow feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Greater Striped Swallow is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Hirundo cucullata will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Greater Striped Swallow is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Greater Striped Swallow are: grasslands

You can expect to see Greater Striped Swallow in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Inkonjane

Zulu ... iNkonjane

Afrikaans ...Grootstreepswael

German ... Groe Streifenschwalbe

Portuguese ... Andorinha-estriada-grande

French ... Hirondelle tte rousse

Dutch ... Kaapse Zwaluw

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 526

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za