Appearance:

Similar to White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), but with dark brown, metallic neck, head, breast and back. Only belly and innermost, under wing coverts are white. Legs, eye-ring and bill deep red. Flies with neck extended like White Stork, but contrasting white belly is visible at great distance. Immature birds duller brown than adults, with grey-green bill and legs.

Sound:

Thin, disyllabic "ahhh-li" heard at nest and when courting. One syllable sounds like gasping intake of air, the other is a thin, piping sound. A bit like a cheap, manual, air-mattress pump. Bill-clattering used by juveniles in alarm.

Courting:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Edmunds Racinskis, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Dark blue metallic upperparts, deep red forehead and throat and light underparts. Long tail-streamers in adults and deeply forked tail. Both the metallic blue and the deep red appears black at a distance. Combination of dark throat/breast and light underparts and vent is diagnostic, and distinguishes it both from Red-rumped Swallow and the smaller martins. Juveniles are less brightly coloured with a dull red throat, and short streamers.

Sound:

Characteristic calls and song. Contact call a short and sharp "weet" or "kee-weet". Song a sparkling, squeaky energetic improvisation with interspersed contact calls, often with diagnostic ending; an electric and drawn-out "su-eerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr".

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC