Mosque Swallow ( Hirundo senegalensis, family: Hirundinidae)

mosque swallow kruger national park birds The Mosque Swallow (Latin name Hirundo senegalensis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 525 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 759 also a picture of the Mosque Swallow on page 816. The Mosque Swallow belongs to the family of birds classified as Hirundinidae.

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

The Mosque Swallow is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

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

The Mosque Swallow.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Mosque Swallow is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Mosque Swallow is about 24 cms and its weight is about 45 gms

You will find that the male Mosque Swallow plumage and colours are different to that of the female Mosque Swallow

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

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Mosque Swallow feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

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

The nesting habit of Mosque Swallow is to create the nest in a hole in a tree trunk. 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 Mosque Swallow are: woodlands and grasslands

You will normally see the Mosque Swallow in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Moskeeswael

German ... Senegalschwalbe

Portuguese ... Andorinha-das-mesquitas

French ... Hirondelle des mosques

Dutch ... Moskeezwaluw

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 525

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