Bird of the week: Lesser striped swallow
Lesser striped swallows have a distinctive burnt-orange skullcap extending onto the cheeks like a helmet.
Lesser striped swallows are either in breeding pairs or flocks, in company with other swallows and swifts.
They forage over woodland, savanna, forest edges, suburban areas and open grassland, feeding on aerial arthropods and arils of Acacia cyclops seeds.
The swallow is a common intra-African migrant, found along the coastal belt from Port Elizabeth northwards through KZN midlands and coast, and most of north eastern South Africa and their visiting period lasts from July to March.
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These swallows are highly vocal when flying and perched, they have a descending series of squeaky nasal “zeh – zeh – zeh – zeh” notes.
Breeding takes place throughout the visiting period in South Africa with at least two broods for the season. The nest is a bowl with a long tubular entrance made of mud pellets and lined with grass and feathers.
They stick it under a bridge, roof of a building, rocky overhang or under a stout branch of a tree. Building the nest can take up to seven weeks. Usually three plain white eggs are laid, incubation is about 14 days and the nestling period is 17 to 28 days.
The isiZulu name is iNkonjane and in Afrikaans die kleinstreepswael.
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