EN
Blue Swallow Hirundo atrocaerulea



Family: Hirundinidae (Swallows and martins)

Authority: Sundevall, 1850

Red List Category

Criteria: C2a(ii)

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Justification of Red List category
This intra-African migratory species is threatened by the conversion and degradation of montane grassland habitat and loss of suitable underground nest sites in breeding areas, and degradation of wetland habitats and grassland in non-breeding sites. Over the past century the area of suitable habitat has reduced such that it now has a small population, which as a migratory species is cautiously treated as a single subpopulation. This decline continues at a slow rate overall, although it is rapidly disappearing from its southernmost range, and without conservation action throughout the range is unlikely to cease. The combination of a small, connected population that is declining makes this species best assessed as Endangered.



Population size: 1500-3000 mature individuals

Population trend: decreasing

Extent of occurrence (breeding/resident): 1,310,000 km2

Country endemic: no

Attributes
Land-mass type - continent
Realm - Afrotropical
IUCN System - Freshwater
IUCN System - Terrestrial
AEMLAP

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Blue Swallow Hirundo atrocaerulea. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blue-swallow-hirundo-atrocaerulea on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.