West African birds leave the north of the breeding range in the dry season.

It has dark blue upperparts with a red rump and a rufous-chestnut crown, nape and sides of the head.

The underparts are white with dark streaking, and the upper wings and underwing flight feathers are blackish-brown.

The blackish tail has very long outer feathers; these are slightly longer in the male than the female.

The lesser striped swallow builds a bowl-shaped mud nest with a tubular entrance on the underside of a suitable structure.