Bird
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Lives in Alabama all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 13 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 13

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 13
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Alabama 13
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits


Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops


Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Other habitats in its models (192)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Quarries, Mines, Gravel Pits and Oil Wells Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
- Barren Land Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- North American Warm Desert Active and Stabilized Dune Summer and winter.
- Great Lakes Dune Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Maritime Coastal Sand Dune and Strand Summer and winter.
- North American Warm Desert Bedrock Cliff and Outcrop Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Rocky Mountain Cliff, Canyon and Massive Bedrock Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Cliff and Outcrop Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Great Lakes Acidic Rocky Shore and Cliff Summer and winter.
- Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North-Central Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff and Talus Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North-Central Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Montane Massive Bedrock, Cliff and Talus Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Coastal Cliff and Bluff Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern California Coast Ranges Cliff and Canyon Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Central California Coast Ranges Cliff and Canyon Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Klamath-Siskiyou Cliff and Outcrop Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Sierra Nevada Cliff and Canyon Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Cliff and Canyon Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Colorado Plateau Mixed Bedrock Canyon and Tableland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Appalachian Montane Cliff Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Badland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North American Warm Desert Badland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Shale Badland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Mediterranean California Coastal Bluff Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Columbia Plateau Ash and Tuff Badland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Temperate Pacific Intertidal Mudflat Summer and winter.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Wash Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Serpentine Barren Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Mediterranean California Serpentine Barrens Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Playa Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Alpine and Subalpine Bedrock and Scree Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Volcanic Rock and Cinder Land Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Rocky Mountain Bigtooth Maple Ravine Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Eastern Great Plains Tallgrass Aspen Parkland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Madrean Encinal Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Edwards Plateau Mesic Canyon Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Dry Bur Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Colorado Plateau Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Columbia Plateau Western Juniper Woodland and Savanna Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Great Basin Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Madrean Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Dry-Mesic Montane Mixed Conifer Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northwestern Great Plains - Black Hills Ponderosa Pine Woodland and Savanna Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Wooded Volcanic Flowage Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Hypermaritime Sitka Spruce Forest Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Mesic Montane Mixed Conifer Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Hypermaritime Western Red-cedar-Western Hemlock Forest Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Avalanche Chute Shrubland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Apacherian-Chihuahuan Semi-Desert Grassland and Steppe Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Chihuahuan Gypsophilous Grassland and Steppe Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Columbia Plateau Steppe and Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Columbia Plateau Low Sagebrush Steppe Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- California Montane Woodland and Chaparral Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- California Xeric Serpentine Chaparral Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northern and Central California Dry-Mesic Chaparral Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Willamette Valley Upland Prairie and Savanna Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Klamath-Siskiyou Xeromorphic Serpentine Savanna and Chaparral Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Savanna Summer and winter.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Juniper Woodland and Savanna Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Great Lakes Alvar Summer and winter.
- Columbia Plateau Scabland Shrubland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Wyoming Basins Dwarf Sagebrush Shrubland and Steppe Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Great Basin Xeric Mixed Sagebrush Shrubland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Rocky Mountain Lower Montane-Foothill Shrubland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Heathland and Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Alpine and Subalpine Dry Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Mediterranean California Subalpine Meadow Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Montane Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Lower Montane, Foothill and Valley Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Upper Montane Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Mesic Meadow Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Montane-Subalpine Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Chihuahuan Sandy Plains Semi-Desert Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Columbia Basin Foothill and Canyon Dry Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Semi-Desert Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Columbia Basin Palouse Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Foothill and Piedmont Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Sand Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northern Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Tamaulipan Savanna Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Tamaulipan Clay Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- South Texas Sand Sheet Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Chihuahuan Loamy Plains Desert Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- California Mesic Serpentine Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Great Lakes Wet-Mesic Lakeplain Prairie Summer and winter.
- California Central Valley and Southern Coastal Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- California Northern Coastal Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Summer and winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Hypermaritime Shrub and Herbaceous Headland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Herbaceous Bald and Bluff Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Burned Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Chained Pinyon-Juniper Areas Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Acadian Salt Marsh and Estuary Systems Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Shrub Swamp Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Intertidal Freshwater Wetland Summer and winter.
- North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Freshwater Emergent Marsh Summer and winter.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Conifer Swamp Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Hardwood-Conifer Swamp Summer and winter.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Interdunal Swale Wetland Summer and winter.
- Boreal Acidic Peatland Systems Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Bog and Fen Summer and winter.
- Mediterranean California Subalpine-Montane Fen Summer and winter.
- Mediterranean California Serpentine Fen Summer and winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer and winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter.
- Rocky Mountain Alpine-Montane Wet Meadow Summer and winter.
- Willamette Valley Wet Prairie Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Montane Wet Meadow Summer and winter.
- Columbia Plateau Silver Sagebrush Seasonally Flooded Shrub-Steppe Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Chihuahuan-Sonoran Desert Bottomland and Swale Grassland Summer and winter.
- Great Plains Prairie Pothole Summer and winter.
- Northern California Claypan Vernal Pool Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Alkaline Closed Depression Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- California Central Valley Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Lowland Riparian Forest and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Summer and winter.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Rocky Mountain Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Northwestern Great Plains Floodplain Summer and winter.
- Great Basin Foothill and Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Columbia Basin Foothill Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Riparian Woodland Summer and winter.
- North American Warm Desert Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- North American Warm Desert Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Riparian Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Mediterranean California Serpentine Foothill and Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Seep Summer and winter.
- Northwestern Great Plains Riparian Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer and winter.
Seasons in Alabama
- Year-round: nests here, in 2 of 67 counties.
- Summer: nests here, in all 67 counties.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 282
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food.
- Poverty OatgrassDanthonia spicata
- Juniperus virginiana var. virginianaJuniperus virginiana var. virginiana
- Silky OatgrassDanthonia sericea
- Hairy Bush HoneysuckleDiervilla rivularis
- Longleaf SunflowerHelianthus longifolius
- Smallhead Blazing-starLiatris microcephala
- Common WaxmyrtleMorella cerifera
- Virginia PinePinus virginiana
- Chestnut OakQuercus montana
- Fragrant SumacRhus aromatica
- Sun-facing ConeflowerRudbeckia heliopsidis
- Big BluestemAndropogon gerardi
- Elliotts BluestemAndropogon gyrans
- Eastern ColumbineAquilegia canadensis
- Bradley's SpleenwortAsplenium bradleyi
- Groundsel-treeBaccharis halimifolia
- SupplejackBerchemia scandens
- Eastern RedbudCercis canadensis
- Woody GoldenrodChrysoma pauciflosculosa
- Appalachian Small Spreading PogoniaCleistesiopsis bifaria
- Lookout Mountain CoreopsisCoreopsis pulchra
- Harpers DodderCuscuta harperi
- Bulblet Bladder FernCystopteris bulbifera
- Trailing ArbutusEpigaea repens
Wildlife 255
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Alabama. Not sighting records.
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleuca
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensis
- Yellow-crowned Night-heronNyctanassa violacea
- American AvocetRecurvirostra americana
- American CootFulica americana
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- American WigeonAnas americana
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)








































