Grey-rumped swiftlet

Grey-rumped swiftlet
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Apodidae
Genus: Collocalia
Species:
C. marginata
Binomial name
Collocalia marginata
Salvadori, 1882
Synonyms
  • Collocalia esculenta marginata

The grey-rumped swiftlet (Collocalia marginata) or grey-rumped swiftlet, is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to some islands in the Philippines.

Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It was previously considered a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet.

Description

The grey-rumped swiftlet is 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in) in length with a square tail.[1] The back and upper surface of the wings are dull dark blue with a moderate green gloss. The rump is paler due to the white margins of feathers forming the uppertail coverts. The throat and upper breast are grey with fine white scalloping merging into larger greyish chevrons over the lower breast and flanks, becoming white over the belly. There is sometimes a tuft of small feathers on the hallux, the rear facing toe. This species lacks the white spots on the inner webs of the tail feathers that are present in some Collocalia species.[2]

Taxonomy

The grey-rumped swiftlet was described by the Italian ornithologist Tommaso Salvadori in 1882 and given the current binomial name Collocalia marginata. The type locality is the island of Cebu in the Philippines.[3][4] The specific epithet maginata is Latin for "bordered" or "edged".[5] The grey-rumped swiftlet was previously treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet but was promoted to species status based on the results of a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus Collocalia published in 2017.[2][6]

There are two subspecies:[6]

Ecology and behavior

It feeds small insects in flight. Forms groups of up to 40 individuals associating with other swiftlets.

Average clutch is just 1 single egg. Not much else is known about its breeding.

Habitat and conservation

Seen in almost any habitat including coastal areas, montane forest , agricultural lands and even roads. It is still most frequently seen in forests and clearings.

International Union for Conservation of Nature does not yet recognize this as its own species. It has asssessed its parent species, the glossy swiftlet as least-concern species.[7]

References

  1. ^ Chantler, P.; Boesman, P. (2017). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Glossy Swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b Rheindt, Frank E.; Christidis, Les; Norman, Janette A.; Eaton, James A.; Sadanandan, Keren R.; Schodde, Richard (2017). "Speciation in Indo-Pacific swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae): integrating molecular and phenotypic data for a new provisional taxonomy of the Collocalia esculenta complex". Zootaxa. 4250 (5): 401–433. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4250.5.1.
  3. ^ Salvadori, Tommaso (1882). "Descrizione di una nuova specie del genere Collocalia ed osservazioni intorno alla C. Infuscata, Salvad". Atti della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino (in Italian). 17 (4): 304–306.
  4. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 229. Note that the page number given for Salvadori's article is incorrect.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  7. ^ Kirwan, Guy M. (2022). "Gray-rumped Swiftlet (Collocalia marginata), version 2.0". Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.gyrswi5.02. ISSN 2771-3105.


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