Tahiti Swallow

Hirundo tahitica Gmelin, JF, 1789

13 cmLength18 gWeight

This small swallow has a blue-black back and crown, a red face and throat, and a short, shallowly forked tail.

Busiest months: June–July and September · Most records: French Polynesia

Looks like Barn Swallow

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Back and crown blue-black
Face and throat red
Wings and tail brownish
Underparts dark

Similar species

Barn Swallow

Tahiti Swallow has a shorter, more shallowly forked tail than Barn Swallow.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: June–July and September · Most records: French Polynesia

Tahiti Swallow has been recorded at 3 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 1 country or region.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Tahiti – Captage PapahueFrench Polynesia86 records
Tahiti – Papanoo ValleyFrench Polynesia32 records
Moorea – Opunohu ValleyFrench Polynesia4 records

Countries and regions with the most records

French Polynesia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The Tahiti swallow (Hirundo tahitica) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It is found on the islands of Moorea and Tahiti in French Polynesia. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Pacific swallow.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Tahiti Swallow?

The Tahiti Swallow is about 13 cm long and weighs around 18 g.

Where does the Tahiti Swallow live?

Its breeding range: Pacific Ocean: Moorea and Tahiti (southeastern Society Islands, eastern Polynesia). It is most often recorded in French Polynesia.