BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Tachycineta thalassina
Violet-green Swallow
| Scientific Name: | Tachycineta thalassina (Swainson, 1827) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Violet-green Swallow | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-VGSW | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5B (Mar 2022) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Egg dates: May-early July in south, beginning in late May in north. Clutch size typically is 4-5, sometimes 6, in north; smaller in south. Incubation, by female, lasts 13-15 days. Altricial nestlings are tended by both parents, leave nest in 23-25 days. Usually 1 brood per season, though 2 per season reported for Oregon. May nest in loose colonies if nest sites are abundant. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | 2.5-15 breeding pairs per 40 ha in northern Arizona; up to 50 pairs per 40 ha in thinned forest with added nest boxes (Brawn and Balda 1988). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / Y / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Migrates northward from wintering areas February-April (Terres 1980). Arrvies in northern breeding areas in April, depart in July in north, August-September farther south (Turner and Rose 1989). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Facultative - frequent use
Agriculture / Hedgerow / Facultative - frequent use Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Facultative - frequent use Anthropogenic / Industrial / Facultative - frequent use Anthropogenic / Urban/Suburban / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Dry / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Mesic (average) / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Moist/wet / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Deciduous/Broadleaf Forest / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Garry Oak Woodland / Facultative - occasional use Forest / Mixed Forest (deciduous/coniferous mix) / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Antelope-brush Steppe / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Grassland / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Sagebrush Steppe / Facultative - frequent use Lakes / Lake / Facultative - frequent use Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Facultative - frequent use Ocean / Intertidal Marine / Facultative - occasional use Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Facultative - frequent use Other Unique Habitats / Estuary / Facultative - occasional use Other Unique Habitats / Mudflats - Intertidal / Facultative - occasional use Riparian / Riparian Forest / Facultative - frequent use Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Cliff / Facultative - occasional use Stream/River / Stream/River / Facultative - frequent use Wetland / Bog / Facultative - frequent use Wetland / Fen / Facultative - frequent use Wetland / Marsh / Facultative - frequent use Wetland / Swamp / Facultative - frequent use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Open coniferous, deciduous or mixed forest and woodland, primarily in highlands (frequently at low elevations in north); in migration and winter also meadows, fields and watercourses, more commonly in highland regions (AOU 1983). May nest in cliff crevice, natural tree cavity, woodpecker hole, crevice in building, or bird box; also reported to use old nest of cliff or bank swallow. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Feeds on flying insects (e.g., flies, leafhoppers, ants, wasps, bees, beetles, moths). Forages over ponds, fields, and wooded areas catching insects in flight. Occasionally may forage on ground on accumulations of insects such as midges or mayflies. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 13/ / 14 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Breeding range extends from the Yukon River valley in Alaska and central Yukon Territory and southwestern Alberta south through southern Alaska, British Columbia, southwestern Saskatchewan, Montana, southwestern South Dakota, and northwestern Nebraska to southern Baja California and the northern mainland of Mexico, and through Colorado and western Texas (Bent 1942, Brown et al. 1992, Sinclair et al. 2003). Recent range extensions have been reported in the northeastern part of range (e.g., Saskatchewan, Canada; Wright 1992, Houston 1999). During the nonbreeding season, the range extends from central coastal and southern California and Mexico south regularly to Honduras, casually or accidentally to western Panama and Costa Rica (Terres 1980, AOU 1983, Stiles and Skutch 1989, Brown et al. 1992). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | May 23, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Brawn, J. D., and R. P. Balda. 1988. Population biology of cavity nesters in northern Arizona: do nest sites limit breeding densities? Condor 90:61-71. |
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Bureau of Land Management. Life History Summaries. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W. Kaiser, M.C.E. McNall and G.E.J. Smith 1997. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 3, Passerines: Flycatchers through Vireos. UBC Press in cooperation with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv. and B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 700pp. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Mitchell, W. A. 1988. Songbird nest boxes. Section 5.1.8, US Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual. Tech. Rep. EL-88-19. Waterways Expt. Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. 48 pp. |
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Sheldon, F. H., and D. W. Winkler. 1993. Intergeneric phylogenetic relationships of swallows estimated by DNA-DNA hybridization. Auk 110:798-824. |
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Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Turner, A., and C. Rose. 1989. Swallows and martins an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Tachycineta thalassina. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).