Bird
Cliff Swallow
Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
A summer resident that nests in Louisiana. Found in all 64 parishes, across 11 habitats.
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 64 parishes
- Habitats
- 11

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 64 parishes
- Habitats
- 11
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Louisiana 11
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
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.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
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.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Other habitats in its models (68)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Louisiana. Those recorded in Louisiana first, the rest by region.
In Louisiana 1
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
Elsewhere in the South (26)
- 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.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain Summer.
- South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- 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.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
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 (8)
- Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- 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 (28)
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems 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 - Forest Modifier Summer.
- 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 (Lake/River/Pond) Summer.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Seasons in Louisiana
- Migratory: does not nest here, in all 64 parishes.
- Summer: nests here, in 3 of 64 parishes.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Louisiana, 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.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 153
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Greater RoadrunnerGeococcyx californianus
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Inca DoveColumbina inca
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Western Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia hypugaea
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
Plants 958
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Golden CrownbeardVerbesina encelioides
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
- Gray Ground-cherryPhysalis grisea
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 124
- Black-chinned HummingbirdArchilochus alexandri
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
Plants 267
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- PondberryLindera melissifolia
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Heartleaf NettleUrtica chamaedryoides
- Clustered FescueFestuca paradoxa
- American BladdernutStaphylea trifolia
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 179
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Black-chinned HummingbirdArchilochus alexandri
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- Black RailLaterallus jamaicensis
- Chestnut-sided WarblerDendroica pensylvanica
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Rufous HummingbirdSelasphorus rufus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Plants 20
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodGlottidium vesicarium
- Tropical FlatsedgeCyperus surinamensis
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- Ditch FimbryFimbristylis schoenoides
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP summer habitat model for Cliff Swallow Fresh water only
- 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)

























































