Barn swallow
Scientific name: Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758
Overview
The barn swallow is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. In Anglophone Europe, it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only member of family Hirundinidae called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".
From the Wikipedia article “Barn swallow”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Africa; Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China); Middle America; North America; Southern Asia.
Common names
Also known in English as European Swallow, Swallow.
Names in other languages (12)
- Arabic
- خطاف المخازن
- Bengali
- পাতি আবাবিল
- Chinese
- 家燕
- French
- Hirondelle de cheminée, Hirondelle rustique
- German
- Rauchschwalbe
- Indonesian
- layang-layang api
- Japanese
- ツバメ
- Persian
- چلچله
- Portuguese
- andorinha-das-chaminés, andorinha-de-bando
- Russian
- деревенская ласточка
- Spanish
- golondrina, Golondrina común, Golondrina tijereta, Golondrina tijerita
- Turkish
- Kır kırlangıcı
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q25429, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Barn swallow”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Base map by Roke, this version by MPF, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026