// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Petrochelidon say? "I'm a cliff-hanger.
| 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
[edit]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. |
.jpg) |
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. |
.jpg) |
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. | |
.jpg) | 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. |
_in_Hyderabad,_AP_W_IMG_2514.jpg) | Streak-throated swallow | Petrochelidon fluvicola | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. |
.jpg) | Fairy martin | Petrochelidon ariel | Australia, with some birds reaching New Guinea and Indonesia. |
.jpg) | Tree martin | Petrochelidon nigricans | Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia east of the Wallace Line and the Solomon Islands. |
References
[edit]- ↑ "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
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