Cliff swallow
Petrochelidon pyrrhonota (Vieillot, 1817)
The cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) is a species in the family Hirundinidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 21.6 g to 24.2 g and live up to 11 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the cliff swallow
- Weight
- 21.6 g – 24.2 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 28.2 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 11 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 11.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 14 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.25src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.25src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the cliff swallow?
Where does the cliff swallow live?
Not recorded
What is the cliff swallow?
The cliff swallow or American cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) is a member of the passerine bird family Hirundinidae, the swallows and martins. The generic name Petrochelidon is derived from the Ancient Greek petros meaning "stone" and khelidon (χελιδών) "swallow", and the specific name pyrrhonota comes from purrhos meaning "flame-coloured" and -notos "-backed".
Cliff swallows are extremely social songbirds that can be found in large nesting colonies reaching over 2,000 nests. They are frequently seen flying overhead in large flocks during migration, foraging over fields for flying insects or perching tightly together on a wire preening under the sun.
Cliff swallows build gourd-shaped nests made from mud with small entrance holes. They build their nests tightly together, on top of one another, under bridges or alongside mountain cliffs. Living in large populations, these aerial insectivores use extensive vocalizations to communicate warnings or food availability to the other individuals.
From the Wikipedia article “Cliff swallow” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cliff_swallow&oldid=1381295754), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the cliff swallow endangered?
The cliff swallow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the cliff swallow classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyHirundinidae
- genusPetrochelidon
- SpeciesPetrochelidon pyrrhonota (Vieillot, 1817)
Synonyms Hirundo albifrons, Hirundo fumaria, Hirundo lunifrons, Hirundo opifex, Hirundo pyrrhonota, Hirundo pyrrhonota, Hirundo pyrrhonota pyrrhonota, Petrochelidon albifrons, Petrochelidon lunifrons, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota albifrons
Other names and names in other languages (65)
- American cliff swallowEnglish
- American cliff swallowEnglish
- American cliff swallowEnglish
- American cliff-swallowEnglish
- Mud swallowEnglish
- سنونو الجروف الأمريكيةArabic
- Американска брегова лястовицаBulgarian
- Oreneta de cingleCatalan
- oreneta dels cinglesCatalan
- Ош лепкӓн цӹгӓкMari
- vlaštovka pestráCzech
- StensvaleDanish
- FahlstirnschwalbeGerman
- Αμερικάνικο ΓκρεμοχελίδονοGreek
- KlifhirundoEsperanto
- klifa hirundoEsperanto
- Golondrina risqueraSpanish
- Golondrina de FarallónSpanish
- Golondrina de peñascoSpanish
- Golondrina grandeSpanish
- Golondrina rabadilla canelaSpanish
- ameerika kaljupääsukeEstonian
- amerikanpääskyFinnish
- Hirondelle à front blancFrench
- Fáinleog AilleIrish
- Fáinleog aghaidhbhánIrish
- Fáinleog aille MheiriceánachIrish
- Gollan eayninManx
- Mbyju'iGuarani
- Irondèl fwon blanchHaitian Creole
- סנונית אמריקניתHebrew
- lastavica litičarkaCroatian
- sziklafecskeHungarian
- Amerikai sziklafecskeHungarian
- KlettasvalaIcelandic
- Rondine rupestre americanaItalian
- サンショクツバメJapanese
- sanshokutsubameJapanese
- Baltakaktė kregždėLithuanian
- baltakaktė klifinė kregždėLithuanian
- baltpieres bezdelīgaLatvian
- Amerikaanse KlifzwaluwDutch
- Amerikaanse klipzwaluwDutch
- mursvaleNorwegian
- SauchiPapiamento
- Souchi BarankaPapiamento
- Swalchi BarancaPapiamento
- jaskółka rdzawoszyjaPolish
- andorinha-de-testa-brancaPortuguese
- andorinha-d'uropígio-canelaPortuguese
- andorinha-de-dorso-acaneladoPortuguese
- Rândunică de stâncăRomanian
- Белолобая ласточкаRussian
- Светлолобая ласточкаRussian
- Белолобая горная ласточкаRussian
- MuvraspálfuNorthern Sami
- lastovička bralováSlovak
- pečinska lastovkaSlovenian
- Američka lasta litičarkaSerbian
- stensvalaSwedish
- Amerika KırlangıcıTurkish
- ak alınlı kırlangıçTurkish
- ясківка білолобаUkrainian
- 紅石燕Chinese
- 美洲燕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the cliff swallow
Other species in the same genus Petrochelidon.
Streak-throated swallow
Petrochelidon fluvicola
Cave swallow
Petrochelidon fulva
Fairy martin
Petrochelidon ariel
Tree martin
Petrochelidon nigricans
Red sea cliff swallow
Petrochelidon perdita
South African cliff swallow
Petrochelidon spilodera
CompareCliff swallow vs Streak-throated swallowCliff swallow vs Cave swallowCliff swallow vs Fairy martinCliff swallow vs Tree martin
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the cliff swallow?
An adult cliff swallow weighs 21.6 g – 24.2 g and has a wingspan of 28.2 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the cliff swallow endangered?
The cliff swallow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the cliff swallow live?
The cliff swallow has a recorded lifespan of 11 years.
What kind of animal is the cliff swallow?
The cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) belongs to the family Hirundinidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cliff-swallow
“Cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cliff-swallow.
@misc{cliff_swallow_2026,
title = {Cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cliff-swallow},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}