Systematics

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Two subspecies currently are recognized:

oroyae, described as Petrochelidon andecola oroyae Chapman 1924: 12 (5 Chapman, F. M. (1924c). Descriptions of new birds from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. American Museum Novitates 138. Close ); type locality Oroya, 12,500 feet [= 3810 m], Junín, Peru

Occurs in the departments of Ancash, Lima, and Junín, central Peru (2 Fjeldså, J., and N. Krabbe (1990) Birds of the high Andes. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Close ).

Upperparts glossed with blue, not green as in andecola; shafts of the primaries whitish, not brownish as in andecola; wing length greater than in andecola (oroyae: wing 123-124.5 mm, n = 3; andecola wing 115-122.2, n = ?; 6 Zimmer, J. T. (1955). Studies of Peruvian birds. No. 66. The swallows (Hirundinidae). American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA. Close ).

nominate andecola, described as Hirundo andecola d'Orbigny and Lafresnaye 1837: 69 (7 d’Orbigny, A., and F. de Lafresnaye (1837). Synopsis Avium ab Alcide d’Orbigny. Magasin de zoologie 7, classe 2: 1-88. Close ); type locality La Paz, Bolivia

Occupies the remainder of the range of the species.

Hellmayr (1935) doubted the validity of subspecies oroyae, but Zimmer (6 Zimmer, J. T. (1955). Studies of Peruvian birds. No. 66. The swallows (Hirundinidae). American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA. Close ) and subsequent authors retained it.

Andean Swallow was described as Hirundo andecola by d'Orbigny and Lafresnaye in 1837. Since then it has been classified among several different genera, e.g. Petrochelidon (8 Hellmayr, C. E. (1935). Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History including all species and subspecies known to occur in North America, Mexico, Central America, South America, the West Indies, and islands of the Caribbean Sea, the Galapagos Archipelago, and other islands which may be included on account of their faunal affinities, Part VIII. Alaudidae, Hirundinidae, Motacillidae, Bombycillidae, Ptilogonatidae, Dulidae, Vireonidae, Vireolaniidae, Cyclarhidae, Laniidae, Sturnidae, Coerebidae, Compsothlypidae. Field Museum of Natural History. Zoology Series, Vol. 13, Publ. 347. Close , 9 Meyer De Schauensee, R. (1966). The species of birds of South America and their distribution. Philadelphia, PA: Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. Close , 2 Fjeldså, J., and N. Krabbe (1990) Birds of the high Andes. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Close ), Hirundo (3 Ridgely, R. S., and G. Tudor (1989). The Birds of South America. Volume 1: The Oscine Passerines. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, USA. Close , 1 Turner, A., and C. Rose (1989). Swallows and Martins: An Identification Guide and Handbook. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA, USA. Close ), Stelgidopteryx (10 Parkes, K.C. (1993). Systematics and nomenclature of the Andean Swallow, "Petrochelidon" andecola. Auk 110: 947-950. Close ), and Haplochelidon (11 Sheldon, F. H., and D. W. Winkler (1993). Intergeneric phylogenetic relationships of swallows estimated by DNA-DNA hybridization. Auk 110: 798–824. Close , 4 Jaramillo, A. (2003). Birds of Chile. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Field Guides. Close , 12 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O'Neill and T. A. Parker III. (2010b). Birds of Peru. Revised and updated edition, Princeton Field Guides. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Close ).

Recent investigations of swallow phylogenetics, based nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data, indicate that the swallows contain two major clades, the mud nest builders (Hirundo and relatives), and the core martins (13 Sheldon, F. H., L. A. Whittingham, R. G. Moyle, B. Slikas, and D. W. Winkler (2005). Phylogeny of swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae) estimated from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35(1):254–270. Close ). Andean Swallow belongs to the core martin clade. Brown-bellied Swallow (Orochelidon murina) is the sister species to Andean Swallow; and Tawny-headed Swallow (Alopochelidon fucata) is the sister to Orochelidon.

None reported.