CreatureData

White-headed saw-wing

Psalidoprocne albiceps P. L. Sclater, 1864

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The white-headed saw-wing (Psalidoprocne albiceps) is a species in the family Hirundinidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 10.6 g to 11.7 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

White-headed saw-wing (Psalidoprocne albiceps)
Photo: Richard Bowdler Sharpe · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the white-headed saw-wing

Weight
10.6 g – 11.7 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.8src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the white-headed saw-wing live?

Not recorded

What is the white-headed saw-wing?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The white-headed saw-wing (Psalidoprocne albiceps), also known as the white-headed rough-winged swallow, is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern by the IUCN.

From the Wikipedia article “White-headed saw-wing” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White-headed_saw-wing&oldid=1371249675), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the white-headed saw-wing endangered?

The white-headed saw-wing is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the white-headed saw-wing classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyHirundinidae
  6. genusPsalidoprocne
  7. SpeciesPsalidoprocne albiceps P. L. Sclater, 1864

Synonyms Psalidoprocne pallidigula, Psalidoprocne palludigula, Psalidoprogne albiceps

Other names and names in other languages (36)
  • White-headed SawwingEnglish
  • White-headed SawwingEnglish
  • WHSAEnglish
  • WitkopsaagvlerkswaelAfrikaans
  • منشاري الجناح أبيض الرأسArabic
  • oreneta capblancaCatalan
  • vlaštovka bělohlaváCzech
  • gwennol lifadeiniog benwenWelsh
  • Hvidhovedet SkovsvaleDanish
  • WeißkopfschwalbeGerman
  • blankakapa hirundoEsperanto
  • Golondrina cabeciblancaSpanish
  • valgepea-nõgipääsukeEstonian
  • ارهبال سرسفیدPersian
  • valkopäänokipääskyFinnish
  • Hirondelle à tête blancheFrench
  • Hirondelle hérisée à tête blancheFrench
  • bjeloglava lastavicaCroatian
  • fehérszárnyú fűrészfecskeHungarian
  • Rondine testabiancaItalian
  • Rondine serrata testabiancaItalian
  • シロガシラクロツバメJapanese
  • baltagalvė afrikinė kregždėLithuanian
  • WitkopkamzwaluwDutch
  • hvithodesagsvaleNorwegian
  • żałobniczka białogłowaPolish
  • andorinha-de-cabeça-brancaPortuguese
  • Белоголовая ласточкаRussian
  • Белоголовая африканская ласточкаRussian
  • lastovička bielohlaváSlovak
  • Beloglava lasta testerastog krilaSerbian
  • vithuvad svalaSwedish
  • Ak Başlı KırlangıçTurkish
  • жалібничка білоголоваUkrainian
  • 白头锯翅燕Chinese
  • 白頭凹翅燕Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the white-headed saw-wing

Other species in the same genus Psalidoprocne.

CompareWhite-headed saw-wing vs Black saw-wingWhite-headed saw-wing vs Fanti saw-wingWhite-headed saw-wing vs Mountain saw-wingWhite-headed saw-wing vs Square-tailed saw-wing

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the white-headed saw-wing?

An adult white-headed saw-wing weighs 10.6 g – 11.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the white-headed saw-wing endangered?

The white-headed saw-wing is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the white-headed saw-wing?

The white-headed saw-wing (Psalidoprocne albiceps) belongs to the family Hirundinidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). White-headed saw-wing (Psalidoprocne albiceps). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-headed-saw-wing

MLA

“White-headed saw-wing (Psalidoprocne albiceps).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-headed-saw-wing.

BibTeX
@misc{white_headed_saw_wing_2026,
  title = {White-headed saw-wing (Psalidoprocne albiceps)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-headed-saw-wing},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}