NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
South African Cliff Swallow
Petrochelidon spilodera (Sundevall, 1850)
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.
South African cliff swallow, Petrochelidon spilodera, at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa
Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The South African cliff swallow (Petrochelidon spilodera), also known as the South African swallow, is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae native southern Africa. It winters to the lower Congo Basin.
Nests are commonly built from mud under artificial structures such as huts and bridges. It is well known for its supposed ability to carry coconuts, although this claim has little to no credibility outside of the Monty Python fictional universe.
Wikipedia contributors, South African cliff swallow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:44:03.999033+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Petrochelidon spilodera (Sundevall, 1850)
- Name authority
- (Sundevall, 1850)
- Common name
- South African Cliff 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 spilodera (Sundevall, 1850)
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 |
| Preuss's Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon preussi (Reichenow, 1898) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fairy MartinPetrochelidon ariel (Gould, 1842) | HirundinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cave SwallowPetrochelidon fulva (Vieillot, 1808) | 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 spilodera Sundevall, 1850 Sundevall, 1850 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=916683 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.
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:4FDYY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.