The

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Hirundo'' is a group of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

s in the family

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 ...

(swallows and martins). The genus name is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for a swallow. These are the typical swallows, including the widespread

barn swallow The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. ...

. Many of this group have blue backs, red on the face and sometimes the rump or nape, and whitish or

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...

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 Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in the tenth edition of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. The genus name is the

word for a swallow. Linnaeus included eight species in the genus and of these William Swainson designated the

(''Hirundo rustica'') as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

Extant species

The genus contains fifteen species. The linear sequence is based on two

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies published in 2005 and 2018.

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: *

West African swallow The West African swallow (''Cecropis domicella'') is a swallow. It is found in Africa from Senegal to eastern Sudan. Taxonomy and systematics The West African swallow was originally described in the genus ''Hirundo''. Some authorities consider i ...

(as ''Hirundo domicella'')

Distribution and habitat

All of the species are found in the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

, although one, the barn swallow, is

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

, also occurring in the Americas.

Gallery

File:Hirundo rustica at Montlake Playfield, Seattle 03.jpg, File:BARN SWALLOW.jpg, File:Wire-tailed Swallow Hirundo smithii by Dr. Raju Kasambe.jpg, File:Hirundo rustica nest Kuivaniemi 20140614 02.JPG, File:Hirundo rustica gutturalis nest and 3 eggs.JPG, File:Hirundo smithii MHNT.jpg,

References

Bird genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Hirundinidae-stub cs:Vlaštovka