This is the first time a bird ringed abroad has been found in southern Africa's biggest swallow roosting site.
The bird, estimated at around six months old, flew 11,000 kilometres to its destination north of Durban.
“This is an amazing Christmas gift,” said Hilary Vickers of the Lake Victoria Conservancy, sponsors of the Mount Moreland ringing programme.
BirdLife Finland says that there are 130,000 to 180,000 nesting pairs of barn swallows in Finland, but that the number has fallen by about one third over the past two decades.
