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Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)

Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) - HBW 9, p. 677

French: Hirondelle rousseline German: Rötelschwalbe Spanish: Golondrina Dáurica
Other common names: Golden-rumped Swallow; Black-vented Swallow (melanocrissus); Ceylon Swallow, Sykes’s Striated Swallow (hyperythra); Lesser Striated Swallow (daurica, japonica, erythropygia); West African Swallow/Striated Swallow, Lowland Swallow (domicella)

Taxonomy: Hirundo daurica Laxmann, 1769, Mount Schlangen, near Zmeinogorsk, Altai, Russia.
Genus often merged with Hirundo, but DNA studies support retention of separate taxa. Forms a superspecies, and sometimes treated as conspecific, with C. striolata and C. badia, the three replacing each other geographically; race japonica is intermediate between former species and nominate race of present species. W & NE African race domicella sometimes considered a separate species; taxonomic status of Sri Lankan hyperythra also requires review. Proposed races disjuncta (from Birwa Plateau, in Sierra Leone) and gephyra (W Inner Mongo.. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Hirundo daurica Laxmann, 1769, Mount Schlangen, near Zmeinogorsk, Altai, Russia.
Genus often merged with Hirundo, but DNA studies support retention of separate taxa. Forms a superspecies, and sometimes treated as conspecific, with C. striolata and C. badia, the three replacing each other geographically; race japonica is intermediate between former species and nominate race of present species. W & NE African race domicella sometimes considered a separate species; taxonomic status of Sri Lankan hyperythra also requires review. Proposed races disjuncta (from Birwa Plateau, in Sierra Leone) and gephyra (W Inner Mongolia S to E Tibet and Sichuan) are probably indistinguishable from, respectively, kumboensis and nominate. Ten subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • rufula (Temminck, 1835) - SW & S Europe (Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean countries) and N Africa E to S Asia Minor, Levant (S to Israel), NE Saudi Arabia, W & S Iran, Pakistan, NW India and Tien Shan; winters Africa and SW Asia.
  • daurica (Laxmann, 1769) - NE Kazakhstan E to SE Russia (W Amurland) and N Inner Mongolia, S to SC China (S to N Yunnan); winters S & SE Asia.
  • japonica (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845) - E Amurland, NE, E & S China, Korea and Japan; winters SE Asia S to N Australia.

     See all 10 subspecies
  • rufula (Temminck, 1835) - SW & S Europe (Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean countries) and N Africa E to S Asia Minor, Levant (S to Israel), NE Saudi Arabia, W & S Iran, Pakistan, NW India and Tien Shan; winters Africa and SW Asia.
  • daurica (Laxmann, 1769) - NE Kazakhstan E to SE Russia (W Amurland) and N Inner Mongolia, S to SC China (S to N Yunnan); winters S & SE Asia.
  • japonica (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845) - E Amurland, NE, E & S China, Korea and Japan; winters SE Asia S to N Australia.
  • nipalensis (Hodgson, 1837) - Himalayas E to SE Xizang (Tibet) and N Myanmar; winters India.
  • erythropygia (Sykes, 1832) - India from Punjab E to West Bengal, and S; winters S India and Sri Lanka.
  • hyperythra (Blyth, 1849) - Sri Lanka.
  • domicella (Hartlaub & Finsch, 1870) - Africa from Senegambia and Guinea E to Sudan and SW Ethiopia.
  • kumboensis (Bannerman, 1923) - Sierra Leone (Birwa Plateau) and W Cameroon (Bamenda Highlands).
  • melanocrissus Rüppell, 1845 - highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
  • emini (Reichenow, 1892) - SE Sudan, Uganda and C Kenya S to N Zambia and Malawi.
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