Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Crum Woods Biodiversity Guide)

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Stelgidopteryx serripennis

Description ⁴

Adults are 13–15 cm (5.1–5.9 in) in length, brown above with white underparts, a small bill, and a forked tail. Their throat is a white with a brownish-grey wash, and below the throat are its white underparts. The adults have a wingspan of 27–30 cm (11–12 in) and a weight of 10–18 g (0.35–0.63 oz). The males' under tail coverts are longer and broader than that of the females. The males also have hooked barbs on the outer web of their outer primary wings. The barbs on the females are shorter and straighter than that of the males. Juveniles can be distinguished from adults by their reddish-brown wing-bars.

They are similar in appearance to the bank swallow, but have a dusky throat and breast. They are closely related and very similar to the southern rough-winged swallow, Stelgidopteryx ruficollis, but that species has a more contrasting rump, and the ranges do not quite overlap.

The call of this swallow is described as a short, harsh zeep. It has also been described as a rough, low bzzt. It is often doubled. This call is similar to the call of the bank swallow.

Habitat and ecology ⁵

Systems

Terrestrial
Freshwater

Iucn red list assessment ⁶

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2012

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History

Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)

Sources and Credits

(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/7457894@N04/4585482964
(c) Andrew Reding, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/seaotter/8084308003/
(c) JanetandPhil, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/dharma_for_one/8783862212/
(c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_rough-winged_swallow
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34736391
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34736389