Genus of birds
The bird genus Hirundo is a group of passerines in the family Hirundinidae (swallows and martins). The genus name is Latin for a swallow.[ 1] These are the typical swallows, including the widespread barn swallow . Many of this group have blue backs, red on the face and sometimes the rump or nape, and whitish or rufous underparts. With fifteen species this genus is the largest in its family.
Taxonomy
The genus Hirundo was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae .[ 2] The genus name is the Latin word for a swallow.[ 3] Linnaeus included eight species in the genus and of these William Swainson designated the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica ) as the type species .[ 4] [ 5]
Extant species
The genus contains sixteen species. The linear sequence is based on two molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2005 and 2018.[ 6] [ 7] [ 8]
Image
Common name
Scientific name
Distribution
Black-and-rufous swallow
Hirundo nigrorufa
Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.
Blue swallow
Hirundo atrocaerulea
from South Africa to Tanzania
Pied-winged swallow
Hirundo leucosoma
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
White-tailed swallow
Hirundo megaensis
Oromia, Ethiopia.
Pearl-breasted swallow
Hirundo dimidiata
southern Africa from Angola, southern Congo and Tanzania southwards.
Pacific swallow
Hirundo javanica
southern Asia and the islands of the south Pacific.
Tahiti swallow
Hirundo tahitica
islands of Moorea and Tahiti in French Polynesia
Hill swallow
Hirundo domicola
southern India and Sri Lanka.
Welcome swallow
Hirundo neoxena
Australia and nearby islands
White-throated swallow
Hirundo albigularis
southern Africa from Angola and Zambia southwards to the Cape in South Africa.
Wire-tailed swallow
Hirundo smithii
southern Africa and southeastern Asia.
White-bibbed swallow
Hirundo nigrita
Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica
North and South America, most of Africa aside from the Sahara Desert, most of Eurasia aside from the northern Siberia, and northern Australia.
Angola swallow
Hirundo angolensis
Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Red-chested swallow
Hirundo lucida
West Africa, the Congo Basin and Ethiopia.
Ethiopian swallow
Hirundo aethiopica
Benin to Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Israel, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda
Extinct species
There are at least two fossil species included in this genus:
†Hirundo gracilis (late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary)[ 9]
†Hirundo major (Pliocene of Csarnota, Hungary)[ 9]
Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus Hirundo including:
Distribution and habitat
All of the species are found in the Old World , although one, the barn swallow, is cosmopolitan , also occurring in the Americas.
Gallery
Windows in the tail of H. rustica
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Hirundo .
^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . London: Christopher Helm. p. 193. ISBN 978-1408125014 .
^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 191.
^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . London: Christopher Helm. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
^ Swainson, William (1837). On the Natural History and Classification of Birds . Vol. 2. London: John Taylor. p. 340.
^ Dickinson, E.C. ; Christidis, L. , eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . Vol. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 479. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2 .
^ Sheldon, Frederick H.; Whittingham, Linda A.; Moyle, Robert G.; Slikas, Beth; Winkler, David W. (April 2005). "Phylogeny of swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae) estimated from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 35 (1): 254– 270. Bibcode :2005MolPE..35..254S . doi :10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.008 . ISSN 1055-7903 . PMID 15737595 .
^ Silva, Thilina N. de; Fernando, Sumudu W.; Robbins, Mark B.; Cooper, Jacob C.; Fokam, Eric B.; Peterson, A. Townsend (2018). "Recognition of a new generic-level swallow taxon from central Africa" . Journal of Avian Biology . 49 (9): e01698. doi :10.1111/jav.01698 . ISSN 1600-048X . S2CID 90611033 .
^ Gill, Frank ; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela , eds. (August 2024). "Swallows" . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 October 2024 .
^ a b Kessler, E. (2013). Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. Hantkeniana Budapest 8: 37-149.
^ "Cecropis domicella - Avibase" . avibase.bsc-eoc.org . Retrieved 2017-05-05 .
River martins (
subfamily: Pseudochelidoninae ·
genus: Pseudochelidon )
All other swallows and martins (subfamily: Hirundininae )