All birds/Hirundinidae/Violet-green Swallow
AI reconstruction of Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina)AI

AI reconstruction created with Nano Banana 2 · 1K, grounded in the profile’s documented taxonomy, habitat, natural-history sources, and an open-license visual reference when available. It is an interpretive image, not documentary evidence. Image policy

Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina)
Verified source photographMarvalPhotography19CC-BY · View source
PRB-0281Passeriformes

Violet-green Swallow

Golondrina Verdemar

Tachycineta thalassina

Accidental / vagrantIUCN LC · Least Concern

The violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) is a small North American passerine bird in the swallow family. These aerial insectivores are distributed along the west coast from Alaska to Mexico, extending as far east as Montana and Texas. With an appearance very similar to the tree swallow, these individuals can be identified by the white rump side-patches that appear to separate their green back and purple tail. Violet-green swallows are secondary cavity nesters, found in a number of habitats including deciduous and coniferous forest. In addition to nesting in tree holes within these habitats, they are also widely observed nesting in the cracks of large cliffs.

FamilyHirundinidaeSwallows
Puerto Rico occurrenceAccidental / vagrantAvibase inferred core 380
Primary habitatforestsWoodland
Primary dietInvertebrateInvertivore
Average mass14.325 gGlobal trait estimate
MovementMigratory; Altitudinal migrantAerial

Sound archive

Hear its voice

Explore real songs and calls. The spectrogram turns each sound into a visual trace of time and frequency.

XC1133656Recording 1 of 3flight call
Spectrogram of Violet-green Swallow: flight call
SpectrogramTachycineta thalassina

Play: flight call by Greg Irving

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Sound recorded by Greg Irving · XC1133656 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Visualization by Stichting Xeno-canto voor Natuurgeluiden.

Every recording retains the creator, catalogue number, and license published by Xeno-canto. Metadata via GBIF

Island profile

Catalog scopeAvibase inferred core 380

About the Violet-green Swallow

The violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) is a small North American passerine bird in the swallow family. These aerial insectivores are distributed along the west coast from Alaska to Mexico, extending as far east as Montana and Texas. With an appearance very similar to the tree swallow, these individuals can be identified by the white rump side-patches that appear to separate their green back and purple tail. Violet-green swallows are secondary cavity nesters, found in a number of habitats including deciduous and coniferous forest. In addition to nesting in tree holes within these habitats, they are also widely observed nesting in the cracks of large cliffs.

Conservation

Least Concern

IUCN LC

Global IUCN
LC
Puerto Rico DNER
No current listing in source crosswalk
Federal ESA
No current listing in source crosswalk
Critical habitat
Not identified in source crosswalk

Natural history

How it lives

Habitat
forests
Elevation
0–3500 m
Nest
Tree cavity; Other bird's nest · Building; Ground; Rock; Tree
Clutch
2–7 eggs
Social behavior
Social / flocking; Pairs / family groups; Singly and pairs; Solitary

Keep exploring

This bird belongs to 6 paths through the atlas.

Evidence trail

Sources, media & further reading