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Hirundo
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 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 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. Extinct species There are at least two fossil species included in this genus: *† ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barn Swallow
The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. In English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only member of family Hirundinidae called a "swallow" rather than a "Martin (bird), martin". There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Two subspecies, (''H. r. savignii and H. r. transitiva'') have fairly restricted ranges in the Nile valley and eastern Mediterranean, respectively. The other four are more widespread, with winter ranges covering much of the Southern Hemisphere. The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally nests in man-made structures and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup bird nest, nest from mud pellets in barns or similar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hirundo Megaensis Mega
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. Extinct species There are at least two fossil species included in this genus: *†''Hirundo gracilis'' (late Mioce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hirundinidae
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used as the common name for '' Hirundo rustica'' in the UK and Ireland. Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 21 genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory. This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus ''Pseudochelidon'') and Hirundininae (all other swallows, martins, and saw-wings). In the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pied-winged Swallow
The pied-winged swallow (''Hirundo leucosoma'') is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. It has distinctive steel-blue upperparts with white wing patches. It is native to parts of West Africa. Taxonomy The pied-winged swallow was described by the English ornithologist William Swainson in 1837 who introduced its current binomial name ''Hirundo leucosoma''. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek words ''leukos'', "white" and ''sōma, sōmatos'', "body". The species is monotypic. Evolutionarily, the pied-winged swallow occupies a basal position within the clade of ''Hirundo'' swallows and is most closely related to the pearl-breasted swallow (''Hirundo dimidiata''). Description The pied-winged swallow is about long with glossy steel-blue wings and head. Most of the underside of the bird is white, with additional white patches found on special wing feathers. The tail is also steel-blue, but has green reflections. Females and juveniles typically have shorter ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pied-winged Swallow (Hirundo Leucosoma)
The pied-winged swallow (''Hirundo leucosoma'') is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. It has distinctive steel-blue upperparts with white wing patches. It is native to parts of West Africa. Taxonomy The pied-winged swallow was described by the English ornithologist William Swainson in 1837 who introduced its current binomial name ''Hirundo leucosoma''. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek words ''leukos'', "white" and ''sōma, sōmatos'', "body". The species is monotypic. Evolutionarily, the pied-winged swallow occupies a basal position within the clade of ''Hirundo'' swallows and is most closely related to the pearl-breasted swallow (''Hirundo dimidiata''). Description The pied-winged swallow is about long with glossy steel-blue wings and head. Most of the underside of the bird is white, with additional white patches found on special wing feathers. The tail is also steel-blue, but has green reflections. Females and juveniles typically have shorter tai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-tailed Swallow
The white-tailed swallow (''Hirundo megaensis'') is a small swallow belonging to the family Hirundinidae and is endemic to Oromia, Ethiopia.Gedeon, K., Zewdie, C., & Töpfer, T. (2017). The birds (Aves) of Oromia, Ethiopia – an annotated checklist. ''European Journal of Taxonomy,'' ''306'': 1–69. doi: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.306 It is commonly referred to as "Benson's swallow" after the ornithologist Constatine Walter Benson, who named the species.Benson, C.W. (1942). A new species and ten new races from southern Abyssinia. ''Bulletin of The British Ornithologists' Club, 63'': 8-19. https://archive.org/details/biostor-116712/page/n2 This small bird is classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as there is a progressive declination of the species which now consists of less than 10,000 adult individuals worldwide.BirdLife International. (2016). White-tailed Swallow: ''Hirundo megaensis. The IUCN Red List of Threaten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Swallow
The Pacific swallow (''Hirundo javanica'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It breeds in tropical southern Asia and the islands of the south Pacific. It is resident apart from some local seasonal movements. This bird is associated with coasts, but is increasingly spreading to forested uplands. It was formerly treated as conspecific with hill swallow, the welcome swallow and the Tahiti swallow. Taxonomy The Pacific swallow was formally described and illustrated in 1789 by the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman based on a specimen collected on the Indonesian island of Java. He coined the binomial name ''Hirundo javanica''. The Pacific swallow was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Tahiti swallow (''Hirundo tahitica''). The species were split based on the differences in morphology. Six subspecies are recognised: * ''H. j. javanica'' Sparrman, 1789 – south Myanmar and Andaman Islands to south Vietnam, east to Philippines and south to M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tahiti Swallow
The Tahiti swallow (''Hirundo tahitica'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It is found on the islands of Moorea and Tahiti in French Polynesia. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Pacific swallow. Taxonomy The Tahiti swallow was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the swallows in the genus ''Hirundo'' and coined the binomial name ''Hirundo tahitica''. Gmelin based his entry on the "Otaheite swallow" that had been described and illustrated in 1783 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. The Tahiti swallow was formerly treated as conspecific with the Pacific swallow (''Hirundo javanica''). The species were split based on the differences in morphology. The Tahiti swallow is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Description This species is a small swall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hill Swallow (Hirundo Domicola) By Dharani Prakash
The hill swallow (''Hirundo domicola'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in southern India and Sri Lanka. It is resident apart from some local seasonal movements. This bird is associated with coasts, but is increasingly spreading to forested uplands. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Pacific swallow. Description This species is a small swallow at . It has a blue back with browner wings and tail, a red face and throat, and dusky underparts. It differs from the barn swallow and the closely related welcome swallow in its shorter and less forked tail. Behaviour Reproduction The hill swallow builds a neat cup-shaped nest, constructed with mud pellets collected in the beak, under a cliff ledge or on man-made structures such as a building, bridge or tunnel. The nest is lined with softer material, and the clutch is up to four eggs. Detailed studies on the breeding ecology of the species were conducted in Silent Valley National Park ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pearl-breasted Swallow
The pearl-breasted swallow (''Hirundo dimidiata'') is a small swallow. Description The pearl-breasted swallow is 13–14 cm long. It has glossy blue upperparts and grey-white underparts. The upper wings, underwing flight feathers and forked tail are blackish-blue. The underwing coverts are a darker shade of grey-white. The lack of white in the tail is a distinction from similar ''Hirundo'' species. The outer feathers are slightly longer in the male than the female. Juveniles are duller and browner than the adult, with shorter outer tail feathers. The northern subspecies, ''H. d. marwitzi'' is darker and smaller than nominate ''H. d. dimidiata'', but the differences are small, and the species may be monotypic. Distribution and habitat The pearl-breasted swallow breeds in southern Africa from Angola, southern Congo and Tanzania southwards. It is sparsely distributed, but can be locally common. It is partially migratory with many birds from the southwest of South Africa winte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
