NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Cave Swallow
Petrochelidon fulva (Vieillot, 1808)
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 cave swallow (Petrochelidon fulva) is a medium-sized, squarish-tailed swallow belonging to the same genus as the more familiar and widespread cliff swallow of North America. The cave swallow, also native to the Americas, nests and roosts primarily in caves and sinkholes.
Cave swallows are found in Mexico and the Greater Antilles, with fall and winter vagrants reaching the east and Gulf Coasts of the U.S. Breeding colonies occur in south-eastern New Mexico, Texas, Florida, the Greater Antilles, portions of southern Mexico, and along the west coast of South America. Five subspecies are currently recognized according to Birds of North America, three occurring in North America and two in South America.
Wikipedia contributors, Cave swallow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:20:46.673923+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Petrochelidon fulva (Vieillot, 1808)
- Name authority
- (Vieillot, 1808)
- Common name
- Cave Swallow
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hirundinidae
- Genus
- Petrochelidon
- 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
- genusPetrochelidon Cabanis, 1851
- speciesPetrochelidon fulva (Vieillot, 1808)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Petrochelidon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Streak-throated SwallowPetrochelidon fluvicola (Blyth, 1855) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tree MartinPetrochelidon nigricans (Vieillot, 1817) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chestnut-collared SwallowPetrochelidon rufocollaris (Peale, 1849) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| South African Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon spilodera (Sundevall, 1850) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Preuss's Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon preussi (Reichenow, 1898) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fairy MartinPetrochelidon ariel (Gould, 1842) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red Sea Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon perdita (Fry & D. A. Smith, 1985) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| American Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota (Vieillot, 1817) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-throated Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon rufigula (Barboza du Bocage, 1878) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hirundo fulva Vieillot, 1808 Vieillot, 1808 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Middle America
North America
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=178460 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:4FDYR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.