Wire-tailed Swallow - Hirundi smithii
Blue above and white below with a clean chestnut cap and very thin wire like feathers projecting from the edge of the primaries. You can see the filament of feather sticking out of the back of the wing on this photo. You can as ever click on to enlarge/ Often in pairs and often near water which they associate with.
This beautiful adult bird was sat on rock next to the Mara river causing me to cease photographing the first Nile Crocodile I had ever seen. These birds are resident rather than migratory like our Barn Swallow and only live in India, parts of Asia and South of the Sahara in Africa. They were named after Smith, a Norwegian Botanist who was on a British expedition to the Congo in 1816.
Its funny but I only found this bird again after blowing up a picture of a dot on a rock. What else is there tucked away in my holiday photos ?
Tanzania, Olakira Camp, Mara River
July 2013
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