Violet-green swallow

Violet-green swallow
Male in California, United States
Female in California, United States
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Tachycineta
Species:
T. thalassina
Binomial name
Tachycineta thalassina
(Swainson, 1827)
Subspecies
  • T. t. thalassina
  • T. t. brachyptera
  • T. t. lepida
Green : resident area
Yellow : breeding area
Blue : nonbreeding area

The violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) is a small North American passerine bird in the swallow family. These aerial insectivores are distributed along the west coast from Alaska to Mexico, extending as far east as Montana and Texas. With an appearance very similar to the tree swallow, these individuals can be identified by the white rump side-patches that appear to separate their green back and purple tail. Violet-green swallows are secondary cavity nesters, found in a number of habitats including deciduous and coniferous forest. In addition to nesting in tree holes within these habitats, they are also widely observed nesting in the cracks of large cliffs.[2]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Tachycineta thalassina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22712077A118842397. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22712077A118842397.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference bna was invoked but never defined (see the help page).