Glossy swiftlet

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Glossy swiftlet
Glossy Swiftlets (Collocalia esculenta) (8127975211).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Apodidae
Genus: Collocalia
Species:
C. esculenta
Binomial name
Collocalia esculenta
Synonyms

Hirundo esculentaLinnaeus, 1758

Eggs of Collocalia esculenta MHNT Collocalia esculenta uropygialis MHNT ZOO 2011 11 189 RdN N-Caledonie.jpg
Eggs of Collocalia esculenta MHNT

The glossy swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and eastwards to New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands.

Contents

Taxonomy

The glossy swiftlet was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Hirundo esculenta. The type locality is Ambon Island, one of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. [2] [3] The specific epithet esculenta is from esculentus the Latin word for "edible". [4]

There are 17 recognised subspecies: [5]

Seven taxa that are now recognised as species were previously considered as subspecies of the glossy swiftlet. They were raised to species status based on a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus Collocalia published in 2017. [6] The promoted taxa are: [5]

Description

This bird is shiny black-blue above, including its rump; sometimes looks black and hooded. Chest black; belly to flanks white with fine black speckles at margins. Wing tips are rounded; underwing is black. Tail rounded with shallow notch and tiny white panels. It is so similar to the white-rumped swiftlet that both its upperparts and underparts must be seen to distinguish between the two. It is 9 to 11.5 cm (3.5 to 4.5 in) in length. Its voice is a soft twittering. [7]

Behaviour

The glossy swiftlet nests inside caves and buildings, creating a nest on a vertical or under a horizontal surface by secreting a sticky gel and attaching a kind of string-like grass to the surface. [8] It is seen flying over forests, streams, rivers and roads catching insects in flight.

Glossy swiftlets have been considered as possible foster parents for restoring the population of the endangered edible-nest swiftlet in the Andaman Islands. [9]

Distribution

The glossy swiftlet is known from Indonesia, Timor, Brunei, Christmas Island, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It is a vagrant to Australia. [1] It is not a migrant. [10]

Status

The glossy swiftlet is reported as being abundant in at least part of the range. It faces no particular threats, and as a result, the IUCN has listed it as being of "Least Concern". [1]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiftlet</span> Tribe of birds in the swift family

Swiftlets are birds from the four genera Aerodramus, Collocalia, Hydrochous and Schoutedenapus, which form the tribe Collocaliini within the swift family Apodidae. The group contains around thirty species mostly confined to southern Asia, south Pacific islands, and northeastern Australia, all within the tropical and subtropical regions. They are in many respects typical members of the Apodidae, having narrow wings for fast flight, with a wide gape and small reduced beak surrounded by bristles for catching insects in flight. What distinguishes many but not all species from other swifts and indeed almost all other birds is their ability to use a simple but effective form of echolocation to navigate in total darkness through the chasms and shafts of the caves where they roost at night and breed.

<i>Aerodramus</i> Genus of birds

Aerodramus is a genus of small, dark, cave-nesting birds in the Collocaliini tribe of the swift family. Its members are confined to tropical and subtropical regions in southern Asia, Oceania and northeastern Australia. Many of its members were formerly classified in Collocalia, but were first placed in a separate genus by American ornithologist Harry Church Oberholser in 1906.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edible-nest swiftlet</span> Species of bird

The edible-nest swiftlet, also known as the white-nest swiftlet, is a small bird of the swift family which is found in Southeast Asia. Its opaque and whitish bird nest is made exclusively of solidified saliva and is the main ingredient of bird's nest soup, a delicacy of Chinese cuisine.

<i>Collocalia</i> Genus of birds

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-rumped swiftlet</span> Species of bird

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The satin swiftlet is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Santa Cruz Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet.

The drab swiftlet is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plume-toed swiftlet</span> Species of bird

The plume-toed swiftlet is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is found on some eastern Indian Ocean islands, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and lowland Borneo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridgetop swiftlet</span> Species of bird

The ridgetop swiftlet is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines.

The Tenggara swiftlet is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to the western Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2020). "Collocalia esculenta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T22686495A181620220. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22686495A181620220.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 191.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 230.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 151. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  6. 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. PMID   28609999.
  7. Simpson, Ken & Day, Nicholas (1999). Birds of Australia, pg. 156. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. ISBN   0-691-14692-6.
  8. K C Tsang; Amy Tsang (2008-03-01). "Glossy Swiftlets at Fraser's Hill". Bird Ecology Study Group. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  9. R. Sankaran (1998), The impact of nest collection on the Edible-nest Swiftlet in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History,Coimbatore, India.
  10. "Species factsheet: Collocalia esculenta". Birdlife International. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2015.