Angola swallow

They measure 15 cm and weigh 16 to 19 g. The plumage of the forehead, throat and upper breast is coloured deep rufous-chestnut. The crown and upperparts are a shiny steel-blue. Flight and tail feathers are black, the latter with large white windows.[2]

They frequent a variety of open habitats up to the fringes of forest, whether altered by man or natural. Their diet consists of a variety of flying insects. They may forage alone or in flocks, and emit a weak twittering. Their breeding season and abundance depends much on their region of residence, and a few undertake migrations.[2]

It is found in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

It has been considered conspecific with the Red-chested swallow, but is generally taken as a full species in a species complex that includes Barn, Red-chested, Pacific, Welcome, White-throated and Ethiopian swallows.[3]

There are two subspecies, but intermediate forms occur:[3]

• H. a. angolensis – type from Huíla Province, Angola
• H. a. arcticincta Sharpe, 1891[4] – East Africa

• 
  Nominate subsp. from illustration by R. B. Sharpe (1894)
• 
  Subsp. arcticincta with deeper tail-fork & paler belly plumage
• 
  Egg of Angola swallow