Eastern Red-rumped Swallow

The eastern red-rumped swallow (Cecropis daurica) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It is found in open, often hilly, areas with clearings and cultivation across Southeast Asia to north-eastern India and Taiwan. The European red-rumped swallow and the African red-rumped swallow were formerly considered as subspecies of the eastern red-rumped swallow. == Taxonomy == The eastern red-rumped swallow was formally described in 1769 by the Finnish-Swedish clergyman, explorer and natural scientist Erik Laxmann as Hirundo daurica, using a specimen from Mount Schlangen, near Zmeinogorsk, Russia. It is now placed in the genus Cecropis created by German scientist Friedrich Boie in 1826. Boie's genus name Cecropis is from the Ancient Greek for an Athenian woman. The specific daurica is derived from Dauria, a mountainous region to the east of Lake Baikal in Russia. The alternative genus Hirundo is the Latin word for "swallow". Some authorities consider the West African swallow to be a subspecies of the red-rumped swallow. Eight subspecies are recognised: C. d. daurica (Laxmann, 1769) – northeast Kazakhstan and Mongolia to central south China C. d. japonica (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845) – southeast Siberia, Korea Peninsula and Japan to south China C. d. nipalensis (Hodgson…