Hirundo javanica
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The Pacific swallow (Hirundo javanica) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It breeds in tropical southern Asia and the islands of the south Pacific. It is resident apart from some local seasonal movements. This bird is associated with coasts, but is increasingly spreading to forested uplands. It was formerly treated as conspecific with hill swallow, the welcome swallow and the Tahiti swallow.
The Pacific swallow was formally described and illustrated in 1789 by the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman based on a specimen collected on the Indonesian island of Java. He coined the binomial name Hirundo javanica. The Pacific swallow was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Tahiti swallow (Hirundo tahitica). The species were split based on the differences in morphology. Wikipedia →
Recording0:21
Indonesia · 2022
© Meynard Dinesh · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Komodo National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 5 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Tanjung Puting National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 7 | Bako National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 8 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 9 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 10 | Kerinci Seblat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 11 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 12 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 13 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 14 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 15 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 16 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 17 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 18 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taichung | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 2 | Kaohsiung | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 3 | Manila | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 4 | Denpasar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Davao City | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 6 | Tainan | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 7 | Kuching | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 8 | Makassar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 9 | Yogyakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Jakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Swallow sighting in Kinabalu Park on a given day, based on 839 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 36th most-seen of the 247 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and May
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Swallow in Kinabalu Park on a given day, against about 10% in January and November, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pacific Swallow sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
13th of 18
Of the 18 parks where we can rate Pacific Swallow sightings, Kinabalu Park ranks 13th at about 30%. The best odds are in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (Malaysia, about 60%), Raja Ampat (Indonesia, about 60%) and Komodo National Park (Indonesia, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pacific Swallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Kinabalu Park (839 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
