The white-winged swallow (Tachycineta albiventer) is a resident breeding swallow in tropical South America from Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, and Argentina. It is not found west of the Andes. This swallow is largely non-migratory. Taxonomy The white-winged swallow was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Hirundo albiventer in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The white-winged swallow is now one of nine species placed in the genus Tachycineta that was introduced in 1850 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. The species is monotypic and no subspecies are currently recognized. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek takhukinētos meaning "moving quickly". The specific epithet albiventer combines the Latin albus meaning "white" and venter meaning "belly". Description The adult white-winged swallow is long and weighs . It has iridescent blue-green upperparts, white underparts and rump, and white edgings to the secondary flight feathers. The wings are otherwise black, along with the tail. It has dark brown eyes and a black bill and legs. The sexes are similar, although it is noted that the females have slightly less white on the wing. Juveniles have grayer underparts and are duller in general when compared to the adults. The juvenile also has less white on the wing. White-winged swallows can be distinguished from the similar mangrove swallow by the lack of a white line above its lores and a greater amount of white on its wings. The call is a harsh chirrup or a repeated, rising, buzz-like zweeed. The alarm call is short and harsh. Distribution and habitat The white-winged swallow is native to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Occasional vagrants reach Panama. They are usually not found on the Pacific coast, especially in the southern portion of South America. The species is usually found in or near lowland areas along bodies of water such as rivers or lakes, at elevations of about . It is resident in most