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.
Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.
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.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer.
- Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Central Interior 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 Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Cliff Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Southern Interior Acid Cliff Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Southern Appalachian Montane Cliff Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Southern Appalachian Rocky Summit Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- 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.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- North-Central Oak Barrens Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade 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 Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland 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.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer.
- Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer.
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
- South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer, only within 2,000 m of water.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
Seasons in Louisiana
- Migratory: does not nest here, in all 64 parishes.
- Summer: nests here, in 3 of 64 parishes.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 368
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Louisiana. Shared habitat, not food.
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- American HollyIlex opaca
- Virginia SweetspireItea virginica
- Common WaxmyrtleMorella cerifera
- Post OakQuercus stellata
- Black WillowSalix nigra
- Poison-ivyToxicodendron radicans
- Winged ElmUlmus alata
- Cedar ElmUlmus crassifolia
- Hazel AlderAlnus serrulata
- Maritime BluestemAndropogon tenuispatheus
- Giant CaneArundinaria gigantea
- River BirchBetula nigra
- Cypress-knee SedgeCarex decomposita
- Southern Waxy SedgeCarex glaucescens
- Bladder SedgeCarex intumescens
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Sharp-scale SedgeCarex oxylepis
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Longleaf SpikegrassChasmanthium sessiliflorum
- Littlehip HawthornCrataegus spathulata
- American PersimmonDiospyros virginiana
- Log FernDryopteris celsa
Wildlife 282
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Louisiana. Not sighting records.
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Tree SwallowTachycineta bicolor
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Great-tailed GrackleQuiscalus mexicanus
- Mississippi KiteIctinia mississippiensis
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
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)












































