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Bird

Cliff Swallow

Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

A summer resident that nests in Arkansas. Found in all 75 counties, across 14 habitats.

Here
Summer and on migration
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 75 counties
Habitats
14

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Summer and on migration
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 75 counties
Habitats
14
Habitat models
Summer

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Arkansas 14

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 14

Swamps

The Land of Evangeline
SummerWest Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp SystemsJoseph Rusling Meeker, The Land of Evangeline (1874): moss-hung trees over a still bayou in Louisiana swamp forest. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Louisiana bayou country (Meeker, The Land of Evangeline, 1874), a neighboring state.The Land of Evangeline, Joseph Rusling Meeker, 1874. Public domain. Source record.

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.

Summer

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest; West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest; Red River Large Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain; Ozark-Ouachita Riparian

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerWest Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods; West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

SummerOpen Water (Fresh)

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWest Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

SummerOnly within 2,000 m of water.Disturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.

SummerOnly within 2,000 m of water.Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

SummerOnly within 2,000 m of water.Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus

Prairies and grasslands

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.

SummerOnly within 2,000 m of water.Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland; Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie; West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie; West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

SummerOnly within 2,000 m of water.Developed, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Disturbed, Non-specific; Ruderal Upland - Old Field
Other habitats in its models (59)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.

In Arkansas 1

  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
Elsewhere in the South (24)
  • Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer.
  • Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Cumberland Riverscour Summer.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
  • Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
  • Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer.
  • Southern Appalachian Montane Cliff Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Southern Appalachian Rocky Summit Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Southern Interior Acid Cliff Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Southern Piedmont Cliff Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
  • Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
Northeast (5)
  • North-Central Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • North-Central Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
  • Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer.
Midwest (6)
  • Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • North-Central Oak Barrens Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
Land cover and other classes (23)
  • Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
  • Developed, Low Intensity Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Developed, Medium Intensity Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
  • Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer.
  • Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer.
  • Recently Burned Grassland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • Recently Burned Shrubland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer.
  • Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Summer.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer.
  • Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer.
  • Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in Arkansas

  • Migratory: does not nest here, in 49 of 75 counties.
  • Summer: nests here, in 53 of 75 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Arkansas, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Cliff Swallow uses many habitats in Arkansas; these are its 3 most characteristic.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 77

Plants 313

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Arkansas

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 86

Plants 888

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Arkansas

Prairies and grasslands

Birds 41

Plants 187

All of prairies and grasslands in Arkansas

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources