Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)
Black Saw-wing (Psalidoprocne pristoptera) - HBW 9, p. 643
French: Hirondelle hérissée
German: Erzschwalbe
Spanish: Golondrina Negra
Other common names: Black Roughwing; Blanford’s Saw-wing (blanfordi); Blue/Fork-tailed Saw-wing (pristoptera); Brown Saw-wing/Roughwing (antinorii); Congo/Mangbettu Saw-wing (mangbettorum); Eastern Saw-wing (orientalis); Ethiopian/Kaffa Saw-wing (oleaginea); Petit’s Saw-wing/Roughwing (petiti); Shari/Western Saw-wing (chalybea)
Taxonomy: Hirundo (Chelidon) pristoptera Rüppell, 1836, Simen Province, Ethiopia.
Forms a superspecies with P. obscura. Taxonomy complex, and some races overlap in range with apparently little interbreeding; hence, races petiti, chalybea, blanfordi, antinorii, oleaginea, mangbettorum, orientalis and holomelas often treated as full species; further work required in order to assess relationships within the group. Additional proposed races include kosteri (Benguela, in W Angola), percivali (Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique) and bamingui (R Bamingui, in Central African Republic), but these are n.. View all taxonomy...
Forms a superspecies with P. obscura. Taxonomy complex, and some races overlap in range with apparently little interbreeding; hence, races petiti, chalybea, blanfordi, antinorii, oleaginea, mangbettorum, orientalis and holomelas often treated as full species; further work required in order to assess relationships within the group. Additional proposed races include kosteri (Benguela, in W Angola), percivali (Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique) and bamingui (R Bamingui, in Central African Republic), but these are not clearly distinguishable. Twelve subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- petiti Sharpe & Bouvier, 1876 - E Nigeria, S Cameroon, Gabon and extreme NW Angola (Cabinda).
- chalybea Reichenow, 1892 - N & C Cameroon E to Central African Republic, W Sudan and N & C DRCongo.
- pristoptera (Rüppell, 1836) - W Highlands of N Ethiopia.
- petiti Sharpe & Bouvier, 1876 - E Nigeria, S Cameroon, Gabon and extreme NW Angola (Cabinda).
- chalybea Reichenow, 1892 - N & C Cameroon E to Central African Republic, W Sudan and N & C DRCongo.
- pristoptera (Rüppell, 1836) - W Highlands of N Ethiopia.
- blanfordi Blundell & Lovat, 1899 - Highlands of WC Ethiopia.
- antinorii Salvadori, 1884 - C & S Ethiopia.
- oleaginea Neumann, 1904 - SW Ethiopia and SE Sudan.
- mangbettorum Chapin, 1923 - S Sudan S to NE DRCongo.
- ruwenzori Chapin, 1932 - E DRCongo.
- reichenowi Neumann, 1904 - Angola, S DRCongo and Zambia.
- massaica Neumann, 1904 - Kenya and N & C Tanzania.
- orientalis Reichenow, 1889 - S Tanzania and E Zambia S to E Zimbabwe and C Mozambique.
- holomelas (Sundevall, 1850) - S Zimbabwe and S Mozambique S to E & S South Africa.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
-
Two individuals ('Eastern Saw-wing') perched on the open branches of a conifer Locality Zomba Plateau, Southern Region, Malawi (ssp orientalis)
Greg Baker 18 October 2005 33 weeks ago 25 sec 3.5 -
group perched on exposed tree top branches Locality Wondo Genet, Oromia Region, Ethiopia (ssp antinorii)
Martin Kennewell 4 November 2010 2 years ago 13 sec 3.4 -
preening on high exposed branch Locality Wondo Genet, Oromia Region, Ethiopia (ssp antinorii)
Martin Kennewell 4 November 2010 2 years ago 27 sec 2.7 -
Two birds perched high in a tree and flying away Locality Buhoma, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda (ssp holomelas)
Josep del Hoyo 8 September 2006 6 years ago 12 sec 2.5 -
two perched birds preening Locality Ngaoundaba Ranch, Ngaoundéré, Adamawa Province, Cameroon (ssp petiti)
Martin Kennewell 16 March 2009 3 years ago 15 sec 2
-
Photographed on the lower slopes of Mount Meru.
Locality Mount Meru, Arusha National Park, Arusha Region, Tanzania (ssp massaica)
M P Goodey 1 December 2006 1 year ago 4 -
Perched on a dead branch.
Locality Wondo Genet, Oromia Region, Ethiopia (ssp antinorii)
Ken Havard 8 November 2011 1 year ago 3.3
- No sound recordings available yet
Email this page