Petrochelidon is a genus of birds known as cliff-nesting swallows.
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.[1] 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).[2] [3] The genus name Petrochelidon is from the Greek words petra, "rock", and khelidon, "swallow".[4]
The genus includes all five species commonly called cliff swallow. The genus contains ten species:[5]
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| Petrochelidon ariel | Australia, with some birds reaching New Guinea and Indonesia. | ||
| Petrochelidon nigricans | Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia east of the Wallace Line and the Solomon Islands. | ||
