CreatureData

Red-chested swallow

Hirundo lucida Hartlaub, 1858

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida) is a species in the family Hirundinidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 13 g to 13 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida)
Photo: Steve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the red-chested swallow

Weight
13 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the red-chested swallow live?

Not recorded

What is the red-chested swallow?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida) is a small non-migratory passerine bird found in West Africa, the Congo Basin and Ethiopia. It has a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings.

It was formerly considered a subspecies of the closely resembling barn swallow. However, the adult red-chested swallow differs in being slightly smaller than its migratory relative, in addition to having a narrower blue breast band and shorter tail streamers. Juveniles are more comparable to barn swallow chicks.

From the Wikipedia article “Red-chested swallow” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red-chested_swallow&oldid=1379847750), 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 red-chested swallow endangered?

The red-chested swallow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the red-chested swallow classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyHirundinidae
  6. genusHirundo
  7. SpeciesHirundo lucida Hartlaub, 1858
Other names and names in other languages (38)
  • RCSWEnglish
  • سنونو أحمر الصدرArabic
  • oreneta de GuineaCatalan
  • vlaštovka leskláCzech
  • gwennol yddfgochWelsh
  • Rødhalset SvaleDanish
  • SingschwalbeGerman
  • rufbrusta hirundoEsperanto
  • Golondrina guineanaSpanish
  • Golondrina de GuineaSpanish
  • Golondrina de pecho rojoSpanish
  • aafrika suitsupääsukeEstonian
  • Afrikar enaraBasque
  • پرستوی سینهقرمزPersian
  • guineanhaarapääskyFinnish
  • Hirondelle de GuinéeFrench
  • Hirondelle à gorge rousseFrench
  • Fáinleog bhroinndeargIrish
  • crvenoprsa lastavicaCroatian
  • Rondine pettorossoItalian
  • アフリカツバメJapanese
  • rausvakrūtė šelmeninė kregždėLithuanian
  • RoodkeelzwaluwDutch
  • guineasvaleNorwegian
  • jaskółka rdzawogardłaPolish
  • andorinha-da-guinéPortuguese
  • Andorinha-de-peito-vermelhoPortuguese
  • andorinha-guineensePortuguese
  • Rândunică cu gușă roșieRomanian
  • Певчая ласточкаRussian
  • Певчая настоящая ласточкаRussian
  • Певчая (настоящая) ласточкаRussian
  • lastovička hrdzavohrdláSlovak
  • guineasvalaSwedish
  • Kızıl Gerdanlı KırlangıçTurkish
  • ластівка червоноволаUkrainian
  • Nhạn ngực đỏVietnamese
  • 赤胸燕Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the red-chested swallow

Other species in the same genus Hirundo.

CompareRed-chested swallow vs Barn swallowRed-chested swallow vs Wire-tailed swallowRed-chested swallow vs Tahiti swallowRed-chested swallow vs Ethiopian swallow

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the red-chested swallow?

An adult red-chested swallow weighs 13 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the red-chested swallow endangered?

The red-chested swallow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the red-chested swallow?

The red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida) 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.

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.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-chested-swallow

MLA

“Red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-chested-swallow.

BibTeX
@misc{red_chested_swallow_2026,
  title = {Red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-chested-swallow},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}