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Northern Rough-winged Swallow | Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Noord-Amerikaanse ruwvleugelzwaluw | Golondrina aserrada norteña
The Northern Rough-winged Swallow breeds across much of North America and winters from the southern United States to Central America. The Caribbean lies at the edge of its winter range: small numbers occur in the north and west in winter and on passage, mainly on Cuba. It is an inconspicuous brown swallow without a breast band that often feeds over water among other swallows.
Voice
A short, rough dzzt or brrt, often given twice, also heard in winter.
Recording: Manuel Grosselet — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
12–14 cm, with fairly broad wings and a square tail. The upperparts are plain grey-brown, including the rump. The throat and breast are dull grey-brown and merge gradually into the white belly; the undertail coverts are white. The sexes are alike. Juveniles have cinnamon edges to the wing coverts, forming two faint wing bars. Flight is steadier and less fluttering than that of Sand Martin, with deeper wingbeats.
Confusion species
Sand Martin Riparia riparia is smaller, with a white throat, a sharply defined brown breast band and a quicker, fluttering flight. Juvenile Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor are grey-brown above but have a white throat and underparts, sometimes with a faint grey breast band. Southern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ruficollis of Trinidad has an ochre throat and a paler rump. Golden Swallow Tachycineta euchrysea and Bahama Swallow Tachycineta cyaneoviridis are glossy green or blue-green above and white below.
Habitat
In winter over open water: lakes, ponds, rivers, rice fields and marshes, and over nearby open land. It feeds low on flying insects, often with other swallows. In North America it breeds in holes in steep banks, road cuttings and walls, often in old burrows of kingfishers or Sand Martins.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
A scarce winter visitor and passage migrant on Cuba, where most records come from, and on the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands and San Andrés. Very rare in the Virgin Islands and the Lesser Antilles. Breeds from southern Canada to Central America.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In winter on Cuba best looked for at rice fields, fish ponds and freshwater lakes in the lowlands, where swallows feed in mixed flocks. A brown swallow without a breast band and without a pale rump is almost always this species in the north of the region.
Conservation status
Least Concern. A common species with a large breeding range that also uses bridges, pipes and other structures as nest sites.
Scientific name
Stelgidopteryx serripennis | (Audubon, 1838)
Audubon described the species in 1838 as Hirundo serripennis; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Stelgidopteryx was introduced in 1858 by Baird. Stelgidopteryx is Greek, from stelgis 'scraper' and pterux 'wing', after the rough, serrated outer web of the outermost primary. serripennis is Latin, from serra 'saw' and penna 'feather', after the saw-like hooks on the outer primary. The specimen the first description was based on came from Charleston, South Carolina, USA.