Tachycineta is a genus of birds in the swallow family Hirundinidae. There are nine described species all restricted to the Americas.
These are slender swallows with forked tails. Most species have a metallic green back, green or blue head, and metallic blue or unglossed brown wings. All have pure white underparts, and four species have a white rump.
Most Tachycineta swallows are at least partially migratory, with only golden and mangrove swallow being essentially resident. All the species use natural or disused cavities for nest sites.
Taxonomy
The genus Tachycineta was introduced by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanisin 1850 with the violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) as the type species. The genus name is from Ancient Greek takhukinētos meaning "moving quickly".
The genus contains nine species,
divided into two sub-clades that are associated with geography: a North American/Caribbean clade and a South/Central American clade.
Image
Common name
Scientific name
Distribution
Tree swallow
Tachycineta bicolor
North-central Alaska and up to the tree line in Canada and as far south as Tennessee in the eastern part of its range, California and New Mexico in the west, and Kansas in the centre
Bahama swallow
Tachycineta cyaneoviridis
Northern Bahamas: Andros, Grand Bahama, Abaco, and New Providence
Violet-green swallow
Tachycineta thalassina
Central Alaska down to Mexico
Golden swallow
Tachycineta euchrysea
Hispaniola and formerly Jamaica
Mangrove swallow
Tachycineta albilinea
Native to Mexico and all of Central America (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama)
White-rumped swallow
Tachycineta leucorrhoa
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay
Chilean swallow
Tachycineta leucopyga
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Falkland Islands, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Tumbes swallow
Tachycineta stolzmanni
Northwestern Peru and far southwestern Ecuador.
White-winged swallow
Tachycineta...
