Hirundo

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Subsectio: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Infraclassis: Aves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Passerida
Superfamilia: Sylvioidea

Familia: Hirundinidae
Genus: Hirundo
Species (15): H. aethiopica - H. albigularis - H. angolensis - H. atrocaerulea – H. dimidiata – H. domicola – H. leucosoma – H. lucida – H. megaensis – H. neoxena – H. nigrita – H. nigrorufa – H. rustica – H. smithii – H. tahitica

Name

Hirundo Linnaeus, 1758: 191

Type species: Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758; gender: feminine

References

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiæ: impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii. i–ii, 1–824 pp DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.542: 191. Reference page.

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 fifteen 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 tahitica	southern Asia and the islands of the south Pacific.
	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.
	Angolan 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]

Former species

Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus Hirundo including:

West African swallow (as Hirundo domicella)[10]

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

H. rustica foraging
Windows in the tail of H. rustica
Tail streamers of H. smithii filifera
Nest of H. rustica
Clutch of H. rustica gutturalis
Clutch of H. smithii

References

Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 193. ISBN 1408125013.
Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Volume 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 John (1837). On the Natural History and Classification of Birds. Volume 2. London: John Taylor. p. 340.
Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 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. 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.
"Taxonomic Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-08-16.
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.

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