Image by davenightingale on Pixabay · Pixabay License
Species
Least Concernwelcome swallow
Species
- PhylumChordata
- ClassAves
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilyHirundinidae
via IUCN
Wikidata facts
Show 8 more facts
- taxon rank
- species
- IUCN conservation status
- Least Concern
- Commons category
- Hirundo neoxena
- taxon name
- Hirundo neoxena
- litter size
- 3.5
- egg incubation period
- 16
- short name
- H. neoxena
- taxon common name
- andorinha-australiana
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The welcome swallow (Hirundo neoxena) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae that is native to Australia and nearby islands. It has self-introduced into New Zealand in the middle of the twentieth century. It is very similar to the Pacific swallow with which it is often considered conspecific.
This species breeds in southern and eastern Australia in a variety of habitats, mostly in open areas, man-made clearings or urban environments, but not desert or dense forest. Eastern populations are largely migratory, wintering in northern Australia. Western birds and those in New Zealand are mainly sedentary.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Welcome Swallow” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.