Cecropis semirufa
To my mind the most beautiful member of the family, the Red-breasted Swallow (aka Rufous-chested Swallow) is a summer visitor to South Africa, arriving here from equatorial Africa from August and staying until around March or April. While spending the summer months locally these beautiful birds can be seen in the Free State, Kwazulu-Natal, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, inhabiting open grasslands and savanna habitats. They feed mainly on flying insects.
Red-breasted Swallows form monogamous pairs in the breeding season, which starts almost as soon as they arrive here in South Africa. Their nests are built of mud in animal burrows and other cavities in the ground – and even inside man-made structures such as culverts – and comprise a bowl-shaped nesting chamber with a long tunnel leading to it. Both partners work on the construction of the nest, which may take longer than a month! The female is solely responsible for the incubation of the clutch of up to 6 eggs over a 3 week period. Once hatched, both parents provide food for the chicks until they leave the nest 3-4 weeks later. The youngsters remain with their parents for about 2 weeks after fledging. Pairs usually produce a second clutch of eggs 2-4 weeks after the first brood leaves the parents.
The IUCN lists the Red-breasted Swallow as being of least concern, noting that their populations are increasing and their distribution expanding.
DeWetsWild 
What excellent photos of such beautifull swallows. I don’t recall having seen them, so I must be sure to look out for them when next out in grassland or savannah regions.
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I’ll hold thumbs that you’ll find them in Kruger, Carol!
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Thanks! Will keep eyes peeled!
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I concur with Hien, you sure have the talent for wildlife captures.
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Such gorgeous birds, Dries. Joubert and yourself have showed their colours off perfectly. 😍
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Beautiful pictures. The first bird is blue and the other seems to be black on the back. can they have different colors?
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They are lovely looking swallows. The Lesser-striped Swallows are hard at work building their mud nest under our eaves at the moment.
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I have always considered swallows to be difficult to photograph, but you don’t seem to have that problem. Gorgeous images!
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Thank you for being as kind and generous with your commentary as always, Hien!
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