Hirundo
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{For|genus of leeches|Hirudo}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Hirundo rustica -Saxony, Germany-8.jpg
| image_caption = A barn swallow collecting nest material in Germany
| taxon = Hirundo
| type_species = Hirundo rustica (barn swallow)
| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 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.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling|title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names|last=Jobling|first=James A|publisher=Christopher Helm|year=2010|isbn=978-1408125014|location=London|page=193}} 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.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=191 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727100 }} The genus name is the Latin word for a swallow.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=193 }} Linnaeus included eight species in the genus and of these William Swainson designated the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) as the type species.{{ cite book | last=Swainson | first=William | author-link=William Swainson | year=1837 | title=On the Natural History and Classification of Birds | volume=2 | location=London | publisher=John Taylor | page=340 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41945118 }}{{ cite book | editor-last1=Dickinson | editor-first1=E.C. | editor1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | editor-last2=Christidis | editor-first2=L. | editor2-link=Leslie Christidis | year=2014 | title=The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World | volume=2: Passerines | edition=4th | location=Eastbourne, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-2-2 | page=479 }}
=Extant species=
The genus contains sixteen species. The linear sequence is based on two molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2005 and 2018.{{Cite journal|last1=Sheldon|first1=Frederick H.|last2=Whittingham|first2=Linda A.|last3=Moyle|first3=Robert G.|last4=Slikas|first4=Beth|last5=Winkler|first5=David W.|date=April 2005|title=Phylogeny of swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae) estimated from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15737595/|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=35|issue=1|pages=254–270|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.008|issn=1055-7903|pmid=15737595|bibcode=2005MolPE..35..254S }}{{Cite journal|last1=Silva|first1=Thilina N. de|last2=Fernando|first2=Sumudu W.|last3=Robbins|first3=Mark B.|last4=Cooper|first4=Jacob C.|last5=Fokam|first5=Eric B.|last6=Peterson|first6=A. Townsend|date=2018|title=Recognition of a new generic-level swallow taxon from central Africa|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jav.01698|journal=Journal of Avian Biology|language=en|volume=49|issue=9|pages=e01698|doi=10.1111/jav.01698|s2cid=90611033|issn=1600-048X|url-access=subscription}}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Swallows | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/swallows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=5 October 2024 }}
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120px
|Hirundo nigrorufa |Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. | |||
| 131x131px
|Hirundo atrocaerulea |from South Africa to Tanzania | |||
| 120px
|Hirundo leucosoma |Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. | |||
| 120px
|Hirundo megaensis |Oromia, Ethiopia. | |||
| 120px
|Hirundo dimidiata |southern Africa from Angola, southern Congo and Tanzania southwards. | |||
| 120x120px
|Hirundo javanica |southern Asia and the islands of the south Pacific. | |||
| |Tahiti swallow
|Hirundo tahitica |islands of Moorea and Tahiti in French Polynesia | |||
| 120px
|Hirundo domicola |southern India and Sri Lanka. | |||
| 120px
|Hirundo neoxena |Australia and nearby islands | |||
| 120px
|Hirundo albigularis |southern Africa from Angola and Zambia southwards to the Cape in South Africa. | |||
| 120px
|Hirundo smithii |southern Africa and southeastern Asia. | |||
| 120px
|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. | |||
| 120px | 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. |
| 120px | Angola swallow | Hirundo angolensis | Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. |
| 120px | Red-chested swallow | Hirundo lucida | West Africa, the Congo Basin and Ethiopia. |
| 120px | 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)Kessler, E. (2013). Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. Hantkeniana Budapest 8: 37-149.
- †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:
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
File:Hirundo rustica at Montlake Playfield, Seattle 03.jpg|{{center|H. rustica foraging}}
File:BARN SWALLOW.jpg|{{center|Windows in the tail of H. rustica}}
File:Wire-tailed Swallow Hirundo smithii by Dr. Raju Kasambe.jpg|{{center|Tail streamers of H. smithii filifera }}
File:Hirundo rustica nest Kuivaniemi 20140614 02.JPG|{{center|Nest of H. rustica}}
File:Hirundo rustica gutturalis nest and 3 eggs.JPG|{{center|Clutch of H. rustica gutturalis}}
File:Hirundo smithii MHNT.jpg|{{center|Clutch of H. smithii}}
References
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Hirundinidae}}
{{Passerida|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q28135}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Hirundinidae-stub}}