NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Red-chested Swallow
Hirundo lucida Hartlaub, 1858
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida) is a small non-migratory passerine bird found in West Africa, the Congo Basin and Ethiopia. It has a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings.
It was formerly considered a subspecies of the closely resembling barn swallow. However, the adult red-chested swallow differs in being slightly smaller than its migratory relative, in addition to having a narrower blue breast band and shorter tail streamers. Juveniles are more comparable to barn swallow chicks.
Wikipedia contributors, Red-chested swallow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:38:39.365095+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hirundo lucida Hartlaub, 1858
- Name authority
- Hartlaub, 1858
- Common name
- Red-chested Swallow
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hirundinidae
- Genus
- Hirundo
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyHirundinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusHirundo Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesHirundo lucida Hartlaub, 1858
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hirundo. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| White-throated SwallowHirundo albigularis Strickland, 1849 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue SwallowHirundo atrocaerulea Sundevall, 1850 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-tailed SwallowHirundo megaensis Benson, 1942 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-and-rufous SwallowHirundo nigrorufa Barboza du Bocage, 1877 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pacific SwallowHirundo tahitica J. F. Gmelin, 1789 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Welcome SwallowHirundo neoxena Gould, 1842 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pacific SwallowHirundo javanica Sparrman, 1789 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ethiopian SwallowHirundo aethiopica Blanford, 1869 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pearl-breasted SwallowHirundo dimidiata Sundevall, 1850 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hill SwallowHirundo domicola Jerdon, 1841 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pied-winged SwallowHirundo leucosoma Swainson, 1837 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-bibbed SwallowHirundo nigrita G. R. Gray, 1845 | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Hartlaub, & Karel Johan Gustav. (1858). Ueber drei neue Vögel Westafrica’s. Journal Für Ornithologie, Vol. 6, No. 31. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3M4RS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.