Near Batan Grande, Lambayeque, Peru ; 19 March 2006 © Charles Hesse

Formerly considered to be conspecific with the Mangrove Swallow (Tachycineta albilinea), the Tumbes Swallow (Tachycineta stolzmanni) is endemic to the coastal region of southwest Ecuador and northwest Peru, in which country it is rather more widespread. Within this small range, the species is generally fairly common, at least locally, but it is little studied, and very little has been published concerning the biology and behavior of this swallow, in part doubtless due to it having only recently been recognized specifically.

Tachycineta swallows typically breed in cavities near large open bodies of water. The Tumbes Swallow, however, differs in significant ways from its congeners, such as in life history traits, morphology, habitat and in its limited distribution.

Recommended Citation

Taylor, Nathaniel, and Maria Stager. 2012. Tumbes Swallow (Tachycineta stolzmanni), Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=%0A%09%09%09%0932582