Hirundo

For genus of leeches, see Hirudo.

Hirundo
File:Hirundo rustica -Saxony, Germany-8.jpg
A barn swallow collecting nest material in Germany
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Hirundinidae
Subfamily:	Hirundininae
Genus:	Hirundo Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Hirundo rustica (barn swallow) Linnaeus, 1758
Species
See text

The bird genus Hirundo is a group of passerines in the family Hirundinidae (swallows and martins). The genus name is Latin for a swallow. 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. The genus name is the Latin word for a swallow. Linnaeus included eight species in the genus and of these William Swainson designated the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) as the type species.

Extant species

The genus contains sixteen species. The linear sequence is based on two molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2005 and 2018.

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
File:Hirundo nigrorufa, Munhango, Birding Weto, a.jpg	Black-and-rufous swallow	Hirundo nigrorufa	Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.
File:Blue Swallow - Hirundo atrocaerulea.jpg	Blue swallow	Hirundo atrocaerulea	from South Africa to Tanzania
File:Pied-winged swallow (Hirundo leucosoma).jpg	Pied-winged swallow	Hirundo leucosoma	Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
File:Hirundo megaensis Mega.jpg	White-tailed swallow	Hirundo megaensis	Oromia, Ethiopia.
File:Pearl-breasted Swallow by CraigAdam (cropped).jpg	Pearl-breasted swallow	Hirundo dimidiata	southern Africa from Angola, southern Congo and Tanzania southwards.
File:Layang-layang batu.jpg	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
File:Hill Swallow (Hirundo domicola) by Dharani Prakash.jpg	Hill swallow	Hirundo domicola	southern India and Sri Lanka.
File:Hirundo neoxena risdon.jpg	Welcome swallow	Hirundo neoxena	Australia and nearby islands
File:White-throated Swallows (Hirundo albigularis) (6817418149) (cropped).jpg	White-throated swallow	Hirundo albigularis	southern Africa from Angola and Zambia southwards to the Cape in South Africa.
File:Wire tailed swallow 18 കമ്പിവാലൻ കത്രിക (Hirundo smithii ).jpg	Wire-tailed swallow	Hirundo smithii	southern Africa and southeastern Asia.
File:White-throated Blue-Swallow S4E1838 (16953709336) (cropped).jpg	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.
File:Barn Swallow perched in wire.jpg	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.
File:Angola swallow.jpg	Angola swallow	Hirundo angolensis	Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
File:Flickr - Rainbirder - Red-chested Swallow (Hirundo lucida).jpg	Red-chested swallow	Hirundo lucida	West Africa, the Congo Basin and Ethiopia.
File:Ethiopian Swallow - Ghana S4E2764 (16978329422).jpg	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)
• †Hirundo major (Pliocene of Csarnota, Hungary)

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)

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