Petrochelidon
| Petrochelidon | |
|---|---|
| An American cliff swallow starting to build a mud nest under the eaves of a building in California | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Hirundinidae |
| Genus: | Petrochelidon Cabanis, 1851 |
| Type species | |
| Hirundo melanogaster[1] Swainson, 1827
| |
| Species | |
|
10, See text | |
Petrochelidon is a genus of birds known as cliff-nesting swallows.
Taxonomy
The genus Petrochelidon was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. He listed several species in the new genus but did not specify the type species.[2] In 1855 the English zoologist George Gray designated the type as Hirundo melanogaster Swainson. This taxon is now treated as a subspecies of the American cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota melanogaster).[3][4] The genus name Petrochelidon is from the Greek words petra, "rock", and khelidon, "swallow".[5]
The genus includes all five species commonly called cliff swallow. The genus contains ten species:[6]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| American cliff swallow | Petrochelidon pyrrhonota | Canada and the United States of America, South American countries, such as Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and parts of Argentina. | |
| Cave swallow | Petrochelidon fulva | south-eastern New Mexico, Texas, Florida, the Greater Antilles, portions of southern Mexico, and along the west coast of South America. | |
| Chestnut-collared swallow | Petrochelidon rufocollaris | Ecuador and Peru. | |
| Preuss's cliff swallow | Petrochelidon preussi | Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo. | |
| Red-throated cliff swallow | Petrochelidon rufigula | Angola, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Gabon, and Zambia. | |
| Red Sea cliff swallow | Petrochelidon perdita | Sudan. | |
| South African cliff swallow | Petrochelidon spilodera | Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. | |
| Streak-throated swallow | Petrochelidon fluvicola | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. | |
| Fairy martin | Petrochelidon ariel | Australia, with some birds reaching New Guinea and Indonesia. | |
| Tree martin | Petrochelidon nigricans | Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia east of the Wallace Line and the Solomon Islands. |
References
- ^ "Hirundinidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- ^ Cabanis, Jean (1850–1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 47. For the publication date of volume 1 see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
- ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 13.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 118.
- ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 300. ISBN 978-1408125014.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Swallows". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
External links