Southern Rough-winged Swallow

How to find it

Scan wires and dead branches in the lowlands, where it often sits in small groups or pairs. Check the air low over rivers, wetlands and boat routes, since it feeds near water. Listen for the rising, buzzy calls of a flock. On a March 2024 tour, large numbers sat on wires in the northern lowlands near Sarapiquí. In the south, a group found it around the Río Rincón bridge area and elsewhere in the Pacific lowlands, alongside Mangrove Swallows. At Tortuguero, flocks appeared beside Mangrove Swallows and Gray-rumped Swifts.

How to recognise it

Look for a small swallow with brown upperparts, a cinnamon or rufous throat and upper breast, and a pale yellowish-white belly. The wings and tail are darker than the body.

Central American birds often look as if they have a pale cinnamon rump, rather than the gray rump of birds further south. A tour trip list describes a paler rump and a buffy throat compared with the Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

The name comes from tiny stiff hooks on the outer wing feathers. They can be felt in the hand but are generally not visible in the field, so do not count on them through binoculars. Use the throat, belly and rump instead.

What it sounds like

Recording: Zac Peterson, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is an aerial insect eater. It flies slowly and deliberately, often low over the ground, and it tends to feed near water.

Between feeding flights it perches on wires and dead branches, often in small groups or pairs. It nests in burrows in banks, often near water.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it is mainly a bird of the lowlands, and it reaches about 1,800 m (5,900 ft) elevation. It forages in flight by day, usually near water.

It has been photographed in the wetlands of Caño Negro in the north, on boat trips at Tortuguero, in the Pacific lowlands of Guanacaste and Puntarenas, and around Venecia and Marsella de San Carlos in Alajuela province. It is also recorded in the Greater Metropolitan Area as a resident.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica is given as April to June.

Similar birds

The Northern Rough-winged Swallow looks very similar but lacks the orange throat of the Southern. It is more uniform in colour, on the rump and throat, and much drabber overall. Telling the two apart needs care, especially for out-of-range or out-of-season records, so check throat and rump together on a perched bird.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican name is Golondrina alirrasposa sureña. Other Spanish names listed for the species in the wider region include Golondrina Barranquera, Golondrina Cuello Canela and Golondrina Gorgirrufa.

Status and conservation

The AOCR lists it as a resident (R), and it is described as fairly common in Costa Rica.

Photography tips

Wires and dead branches give the steadiest views, since birds perch there in small groups or pairs. Low passes over water are the other chance, as it flies slowly and deliberately close to the ground.