# 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 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.
| 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)
* †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
* 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