Violet-green Swallow
(Tachycineta thalassina)

Overview

Summary

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The Violet-green Swallow is a common breeding bird in the montane coniferous forests of western North America. Breeding Bird Survey data for Canada show little overall change in the population relative to about 1970. In contrast to many of the other aerial insectivores, there are no known pressing conservation concerns for the species at this time. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

In the 1980s, there was a negative change point in the Breeding Bird Survey population trends of swallows, swifts, and nightjars across most of North America (Smith et al. 2015). However, the Violet-green Swallow stands out as the only swallow in Canada that is not decreasing at the national level. The reasons why this species is faring better than others in the group are unclear. 

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Smith, A.C., M-A.R. Hudson, C.M. Downes, and C.M. Francis. 2015. Change points in the population trends of aerial-insectivorous birds in North America: Synchronized in time across species and regions. PLOS ONE 10(7): e0130768. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130768. Smith, A.C., M-A.R. Hudson, C.M. Downes, and C.M. Francis. 2015. Change points in the population trends of aerial-insectivorous birds in North America: Synchronized in time across species and regions. PLOS ONE 10(7): e0130768. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130768. (Link)