Black Saw-wing (Psalidoprocne pristoptera) [XC392664]
by Peter Boesman from Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa (call)
Black Saw-wing (Psalidoprocne pristoptera) [XC234825]
by Faansie Peacock from Ndego Gate, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda (flight call)
Nest
In a long burrow, composed of grass, moss or similar materials, located in a vertical sand or clay bank. A burrow of a kingfisher is often used.
Eggs (Guide)
Clutch Size: 2 - 3
Color: white
Incubation: 14 - 19 days probably by female
Young
Fledge: 24 - 27 days
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Fanti Saw-wing (Psalidoprocne obscura). Taxonomy complex, and some subspecies overlap in range with apparently little interbreeding. Subspecies petiti, chalybea, blanfordi, antinorii, oleaginea, mangbettorum, orientalis and holomelas often treated as full species. Further work required in order to assess relationships within the group.
Additional proposed subspecies include kosteri (Benguela, in western Angola), percivali (Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique) and bamingui (R Bamingui, in Central African Republic), but these are not clearly distinguishable.
The following 12 subspecies are recognised:
petiti Sharpe & Bouvier, 1876 - Eastern Nigeria, southern Cameroon, Gabon and extreme north-western Angola (Cabinda). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Petit's Sawwing (Psalidoprocne petiti).
chalybea Reichenow, 1892 - Northern and central Cameroon east to Central African Republic, western Sudan and northern and central DRCongo. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Shari Sawwing (Psalidoprocne chalybea).
pristoptera (Rüppell, 1836) - Western Highlands of northern Ethiopia.
blanfordi Blundell & Lovat, 1899 - Highlands of west-central Ethiopia.
antinorii Salvadori, 1884 - Central and southern Ethiopia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Brown Sawwing (Psalidoprocne antinorii).
oleaginea Neumann, 1904 - South-western Ethiopia and south-eastern Sudan. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Ethiopian Sawwing (Psalidoprocne oleaginea).
mangbettorum Chapin, 1923 - Southern Sudan south to north-eastern DRCongo. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Mangbettu Sawwing (Psalidoprocne mangbettorum).
ruwenzori Chapin, 1932 - Eastern DRCongo.
reichenowi Neumann, 1904 - Angola, southern DRCongo and Zambia.
massaica Neumann, 1904 - Kenya and northern and central Tanzania.
orientalis Reichenow, 1889 - Southern Tanzania and eastern Zambia south to eastern Zimbabwe and central Mozambique. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Eastern Sawwing (Psalidoprocne orientalis).
holomelas (Sundevall, 1850) - Southern Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique south to eastern and southern South Africa. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Black Sawwing (Psalidoprocne holomelas).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet