Table Of Content—
A
Palearctic Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica rufula
Zambia
in
Bennie van den Brink' andPete Leonardh
Une Hirondelle rousseline palearctique Cecropis daurica rufula en Zambie. Une Hirondelle rousseline
Cecropis daurica de la sous-espece palearctique rufula a ete capturee pres de Kabwe, au centre de la Zambie,
e 27 janvier 2009. Ceci constitue la donnee la plus meridionale en Afrique de ce taxon, qui est suppose
d hiverner pnncipalement en Afrique de l’Ouest et de l’Est.
B
etween November 2008 and February2009, a Itonlybecameclearthat the recordwas unusual
Dutch team trapped Barn Swallows Hirundo subsequently, following correspondence between
rustica at roosts in central Zambia to obtain data BvdB and PL. In Zambia, the race C. d. emini is
on their wintering strategies. On 27January 2009, resident near rocky hills in just a few areas on the
mRiasntc-hnetnsewaerreKasebtwweith(i1n4°a1r8e’e4d2b5e”dSon28M°a2f7u7n0d0z”aEl)o 2co,u2n0t0rym’s(nDoorwtsheetrtneatnald. 2ea0s0t8e)r,n tbhoursdetrhse laotca1l,i1t3y0in
and birds were attracted using a tape lure. The question is >600 km from the nearest known areas
roost was used by c.1,000 Bam Swallows, ofwhich of regular occurrence. It also became clear that
82 were trapped, ringed and released. Among the bird might have belonged to the migratory
them a Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica was Palearctic race, C. d. rufula which suggestion was
,
discovered which had apparently intended to roost later confirmed following correspondence with
with the Barn Swallows (Figs. 1-2). other ornithologists. Distinctive features included
The bird was in heavy moult with a primary the pale underparts with striped breast and flanks
wing moult score of 30 (355334100) and a tail (C. d. emini is plain rufous, occasionally with very
moult score of 20 (555320). It was also replacing faint streaking), the complete chestnut collar and
the head- and body-feathers, giving the bird an particularly the bicoloured rump (C. d. emini has a
untidy appearance. The presence of dull brown uniformly medium or dark rufous rump) (Turner
&
contour feathers on the crown and mantle (as Rose 1989, Keith et al. 1992). Biometrics were
opposed to glossy blue-black) as well as short, ofno assistance with the subspecific identification.
dull brown outer rectrices indicated that it was a
juvenile. Other biometrics were as follows: wing
length (flattened and straightened): 124 mm,
tarsus: 14.64 mm, mass: 22.5 g, fat score: 0,
pectoral muscle score: 2.
Figures 1-2. Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica ofthe Palearctic race rufula, trapped near Kabwe, central Zambia,
27 January 2009 Santing)
(J.
Hirondelle rousseline Cecropis daurica de la sous-espece palearctique rufula, capturee pres de Kabwe, au centre de la
Zambie, 27 janvier 2009 Santing)
(J.
&
A Palearctic Red-rumpedSwallow in Zambia: van den Brink Leonard BullABC Vol 18 No 1 (2011) - 77
One apparentanomaly that required resolution Acknowledgements
was the extensive white visible on the mantle. We thank Xavier Rufray, Bob Dowsett, Nik Borrow
Close inspection and comparison with specimens and Rob Bijlsma for their comments on this record.
confirmed that this was a result of the white We are also grateful to Mark Adams of the Natural
feather bases being visible due to the bird being History Museum, Tring, for sending photographs of
in moult and missing several contour feathers. the different races held in that collection.
Furthermore, it appeared to be a common feature
References
in moulting Red-rumped Swallows (of various
&
subspecies) based on specimens. Dowsett, R. J., Aspinwall, D. R. Dowsett-Lemaire,
Five races of Red-rumped Swallow occur F. 2008. The Birds of Zambia. An Atlas and
&
Of Handbook. Liege: Tauraco Press Aves.
in Africa (Keith et al. 1992). these, C. d.
Harrison, A., Allan, D. G., Underhill, L. G.,
domicella, C. d. melanocrissus and C. d. kumboensis HerremaJ.ns, M., Tree, M., Parker, V. & Brown,
are resident in various parts of the northern J.
C. (eds.) 1997. TheAtlasofSouthernAficanBirds.
tropics. C. d. emini is a bird ofmore mountainous J.
Vol. 2. Johannesburg: BirdLife South Africa.
terrain from south-east Sudan south to Zambia Hockey, P. A. R., Dean, W. R. & Ryan, P. G.
and Malawi. Finally, the principally Palearctie- — J.
(eds.) 2005. Roberts Birds of Southern Africa.
breeding C. d. rufula, , appears to winter mainly Seventh edn. Cape Town: The Trustees oftheJohn
in West and eastern Africa, though data are sparse. Voelcker Bird Book Fund.
The Zambian record therefore represents a new Keith, S., Urban, E. K. & Fry, C. H. (eds.) 1992. The
southerly limit for this taxon. Birds ofAfrica. Vol. 4. London, UK: Academic
There are several other records of vagrant
Press.
Red-rumped Swallows from Congo-Kinshasa Turner, A. & Rose, C. 1989. A Handbook to the
(two), Zambia (one) and Zimbabwe (at least Swallows and Martins ofthe World. London, UK:
seven) (Keith et al. 1992, Harrison et al. 1997, Christopher Helm.
Dowsett et al. 2008). None has been identified
a Zomerdijk 86, 8079 TL Noordeinde, Netherlands.
to subspecies though it seems more likely that
E-mail: [email protected]
these records pertain to overshooting migratory
h The Barn, 19 Watsons Lane, Harby, Melton Mowbray
C. d. rufula rather than dispersal by the essentially
LEI4 4DD, UK. E-mail: [email protected].
sedentary C. d. emini. It is perhaps notable that
co.uk
several other Palearctic migrants that winter in the
northern tropics have reached southern Africa as Received 5 November 2009; revision accepted 6 May
vagrants, e.g. European Turtle Dove Streptopelia 2010.
turtur, Pallid Swift Apus pallidus, Red-throated
Pipit Anthus cervinus and Common Redstart
Phoenicurusphoenicurus (Hockey etal. 2005).
78-BullABC Vol 18 No 1 (2011) A Palearctic Red-rumpedSwallow in Zambia: van den Brink &Leonard
