It breeds in open hilly country of southern Europe and north Africa east to Iran, Pakistan and northwest India.

They resemble barn swallows, but are darker below and have pale or reddish rumps, face and neck collar.

European red-rumped swallows build quarter-sphere nests with a tunnel entrance lined with mud collected in their beaks, and lay 3 to 6 eggs.

They normally nest under cliff overhangs in their mountain homes, but will readily adapt to buildings such as mosques and bridges.

The European red-rumped swallow was formally described in 1835 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck under the binomial name Hirundo rufula.

A retort builder like red-rumped swallow starts with an open cup, closes it, and then builds the entrance tunnel.

[9] The European red-rumped swallow is extending its range northward in Europe, colonising France and Romania in recent decades.