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#0942 · 🐦 birds

European Red-rumped Swallow

🇳🇱 Roodstuitzwaluw ·Cecropis rufula

🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands
7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
  1. 1. © Thijs Valkenburg · CC BY-NC 4.0
  2. 2. © yves hoebeke · CC BY-SA 4.0
  3. 3. © Luís Lourenço · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
  4. 4. © Nigel Voaden · CC BY 4.0
  5. 5. © Vyacheslav Luzanov · CC BY-NC 4.0
  6. 6. © Paul Cools · CC BY-NC 4.0
  7. 7. © Valia Pavlou · CC BY-NC 4.0
European Red-rumped Swallow, photo 1 of 7
1/7 © Thijs Valkenburg · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The European red-rumped swallow ( Cecropis rufula ) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It breeds in open hilly country of southern Europe and north Africa east to Iran, Pakistan and northwest India. During winter it migrates to Africa and southwest Asia. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the eastern red-rumped swallow ( Cecropis daurica ).

base stats

  • NL sightings 3iNaturalist, research grade
  • worldwide 6,433iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

  • Spotted 3 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
  • 6,433 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
  • Scientifically named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1835 (191 years ago).

fact sheet

English
European Red-rumped Swallow
Nederlands
Roodstuitzwaluw
scientific name
Cecropis rufula
class
Aves
order
Passeriformes
family
Hirundinidae
sightings in NL
3
sightings in Europe
4,520
sightings worldwide
6,433
weight
—
length
—
lifespan
—
named
1835 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck

relatives· Hirundinidae

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 1584768, Wikidata Q137261195, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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