Hirundo javanica
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% 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 |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Swallow sighting in Sepilok on a given day, based on 1,335 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 242 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Swallow in Sepilok on a given day, against about 40% in February, April and August, 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.
5th of 18
Of the 18 parks where we can rate Pacific Swallow sightings, Sepilok ranks 5th at about 50%. 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 Sepilok (1,335 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.
