Birds · Passeriformes · Hirundinidae

Red-rumped Swallow

Cecropis daurica

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

A swallow with a black back with bluish sheen and pale, finely streaked underparts, whose most characteristic feature is its orange nape, face and rump. It is told apart from the barn swallow by having no red bib and by its uniformly black tail, long and deeply forked.

Weight

21 g – 25 g

Size

17 cm on average

Lifespan

5 years

Diet

Insectivore

Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Estimated population

Some 100,000 pairs in Spain and around 300,000 breeding pairs in Europe

Insectivore Diurnal In pairs Bird

48countries 49parks5same family

Fun facts

GeneralIt builds a mud nest with a tunnel entrance, shaped like a bottle.
Of the four European hirundines that build mud nests, it is the one that puts in the most work: a complete half-sphere to which it adds an entrance tunnel of up to 25 cm.
The first Spanish record dates from 1921 in Cádiz; since then its expansion has been steady, and especially strong between 1950 and 1980.
Its fourteen subspecies are so different from one another that some specialists propose splitting them into several species.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Ravines, bridges and farm buildings
Gestation / incubation: About 15 days, by both sexes. The chicks leave the nest at around 27 days
Litter / clutch size: 3-6 cream eggs with reddish spots, with two clutches a year and sometimes three. In Extremadura the documented average is 4.5 eggs in the first clutch, 3.8 in the second and 3.6 in the third; an average of 3.5 chicks fledge per brood

Sources consulted: SEO/BirdLife (ficha y III Atlas, De Lope 2022); IUCN Red List; Asturnatura; De Lope 1981, Doñana Acta Vertebrata 8; Keller et al. 2020, European Breeding Bird Atlas 2