A small martin-like swallow with pale underparts, steel-blue upperparts, and distinctive white patches in the wings. Female has a shorter tail than the male. Juvenile is duller, with an even shorter tail. An uncommon resident and partial migrant that frequents woodland, coastal scrub, and rivers, foraging low over open clearings in pairs or with other swallows. Gives a quiet “chut” call. The similar migrant Common House-Martin overlaps with Pied-winged Swallow between Octobr and April, but has a white rump and lacks white in the wings.