The eastern red-rumped swallow was formally described in 1769 by the Finnish-Swedish clergyman, explorer and natural scientist Erik Laxmann as Hirundo daurica,[2] using a specimen from Mount Schlangen, near Zmeinogorsk, Russia.

The species were lumped together because the variation in stength of the underpart streaking is clinal with no significant difference between japonica and mayri.

The sexes are alike but juveniles are duller and browner, with a paler rump and shorter outer tail feathers.

The population along the Himalayas, C. d. nipalensis, migrates to peninsular India in winter and breeds from Kulu in the west to Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh in the east.

The island subspecies are essentially resident, but the continental races mayri and stanfordi are partial migrants which move south in the winter.

The nest is a retort or bottle-shaped structure, made from mud pellets and lined with dried grasses and feathers.