About Atticora melanoleuca (Wied-Neuwied, 1820)
The black-collared swallow, with the scientific name Atticora melanoleuca (Wied-Neuwied, 1820), is approximately 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weighs 10 to 12 g (0.35 to 0.42 oz). Both sexes have identical plumage. Adult individuals have a mostly glossy blue-black head and neck, with a white throat. Their upperparts are also glossy blue-black, their tail is deeply forked and blackish, and their wings are blackish. Their underparts are mostly white, with a blue-black band crossing the breast. Juvenile black-collared swallows have duller, browner heads and upperparts than adults, along with dirty white underparts and a shorter tail.
This species has a highly disjunct distribution. One population occurs from eastern Colombia into southwestern Venezuela, across central Venezuela east through extreme northern Brazil and the Guianas, and also south of this range band along the upper Negro River in northwestern Brazil. A second population is found from extreme northeastern Bolivia across Amazonian Brazil south of the Amazon River, into the watersheds of the Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu, and Tocantins rivers. A third, much smaller population is located in the Iguaçu Falls area along the Argentina-Brazil border; this population may extend into Paraguay, where the South American Classification Committee holds only unconfirmed records. There are also scattered records of the species at multiple sites from southeastern to northeastern Brazil.
The black-collared swallow lives in riverine belts, especially alongside blackwater rivers, where it prefers areas close to waterfalls and along rapids. In terms of elevation, it only reaches around 300 m (1,000 ft) above sea level.
