Hirundo


The bird genus Hirundo is a group of passerines in the family Hirundinidae. 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

Genetic evidence has recently shown that many of the species previously included in Hirundo are less closely related than their appearance might suggest; these species are sometimes treated in the separate genera Cecropis and Petrochelidon ; they are as distinct from typical Hirundo as the house martins in the genus Delichon.

Extant species

The genus contains fifteen species:
There are at least two fossil species included in this genus:
Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus Hirundo including:
All of the species are found in the Old World, although one, the barn swallow, is cosmopolitan, also occurring in the Americas.

Gallery