Pale-footed Swallow

Overview

The pale-footed swallow, Orochelidon flavipes, is a species of swallow in the family Hirundinidae. It is also known as the cloud-forest swallow due to its residency in cloud forests and is found in the northern Andes, from Venezuela to Bolivia.

Identification

• Average length of 12 cm with a weight of 10.6 g, featuring dark, glossy blue upperparts where the wing, tail, and undertail coverts appear more black than the rest.
• Distinctive plumage includes a dusky chin, a cinnamon-buff throat, and a white chest tinged with cinnamon-buff, contrasting with blackish-brown underwing coverts, axillars, flanks, and tibial feathers.
• Possesses a black bill with pink mouth-lining, a dark brown iris, and a slightly notched tail, with pink flesh lower legs and toes.
• Flight call is frequently described as a 'dzreet' which is drier than that of the blue-and-white swallow, accompanied by a song of trills and thin warbles that are buzzy but musical.

Habitat

Native to the Andes in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, this species primarily inhabits subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It usually occurs on the eastern slopes of the Andes, though it has been recorded on both slopes in the central Andes, typically residing between 2,000 m and 3,500 m in altitude depending on the region.

Diet

As an aerial insectivore, it consumes insects in the air, usually over or through the forest canopy and occasionally over nearby clearings. It forages in groups of 10 to 15 birds, occasionally reaching up to 50, exhibiting quick, low, and erratic flight that often involves backtracking.

Did you know?

Although the exact timing of female fertility is unknown, males are usually in breeding condition from July to September, and the species likely nests in mossy cavities or burrows created in roads, resembling the similar blue-and-white swallow.