CreatureData

Tree martin

Petrochelidon nigricans (Vieillot, 1817)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans) is a species in the family Hirundinidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 14.3 g to 15.4 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the tree martin

Weight
14.3 g – 15.4 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3.9src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the tree martin live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The tree martin is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the tree martin?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans) is a member of the swallow family of passerine birds. It breeds in Australia, mostly south of latitude 20°S, and on Timor island. It is migratory, wintering through most of Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia east of the Wallace Line, and the Solomon Islands. It is a vagrant to New Zealand, where it has bred, and New Caledonia. This species is frequently placed in the genus Hirundo as Hirundo nigricans.

This is a bird of open woodland, preferably with large trees to provide nest holes. It is increasingly common in urban and suburban areas.

From the Wikipedia article “Tree martin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tree_martin&oldid=1367773195), 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 tree martin endangered?

The tree martin 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.

How is the tree martin classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyHirundinidae
  6. genusPetrochelidon
  7. SpeciesPetrochelidon nigricans (Vieillot, 1817)

Synonyms Cecropis nigricans, Hirundo nigricans, Petrochelidon nigricans nigricans

Other names and names in other languages (32)
  • Australian tree martinEnglish
  • خطاف الشجرArabic
  • oreneta dels arbresCatalan
  • vlaštovka rezavočeláCzech
  • Australsk TræsvaleDanish
  • BaumschwalbeGerman
  • eŭkalipta hirundoEsperanto
  • Golondrina arborícolaSpanish
  • eukalüptipääsukeEstonian
  • australianpääskyFinnish
  • Hirondelle des arbresFrench
  • lastavica dupljašicaCroatian
  • Layang-layang pohonIndonesian
  • Rondine zampe nereItalian
  • Rondine arboricola australianaItalian
  • キビタイツバメJapanese
  • australinė klifinė kregždėLithuanian
  • boomzwaluwDutch
  • Australische BoomzwaluwDutch
  • eukalyptussvaleNorwegian
  • jaskółka drzewnaPolish
  • andorinha-arborícolaPortuguese
  • Lăstun de copacRomanian
  • Австралийская ласточкаRussian
  • Древесная горная ласточкаRussian
  • lastovička stromováSlovak
  • Australijska lasta sa drvetaSerbian
  • eukalyptussvalaSwedish
  • Avustralya Ağaç KırlangıcıTurkish
  • ясківка лісоваUkrainian
  • 树燕Chinese
  • 樹毛腳燕Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the tree martin

Other species in the same genus Petrochelidon.

LC, Least Concern
Cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)

Cliff swallow

Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

Hirundinidae

LC, Least Concern
Cave swallow (Petrochelidon fulva)

Cave swallow

Petrochelidon fulva

Hirundinidae

LC, Least Concern

Fairy martin

Petrochelidon ariel

HirundinidaeNo free photo yet

CompareTree martin vs Cliff swallowTree martin vs Streak-throated swallowTree martin vs Cave swallowTree martin vs Fairy martin

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the tree martin?

An adult tree martin weighs 14.3 g – 15.4 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the tree martin live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the tree martin for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the tree martin endangered?

The tree martin 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 tree martin?

The tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/tree-martin

MLA

“Tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/tree-martin.

BibTeX
@misc{tree_martin_2026,
  title = {Tree martin (Petrochelidon nigricans)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/tree-martin},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}