Lesser swallow-tailed swift
| Lesser swallow-tailed swift | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Strisores |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Apodidae |
| Genus: | Panyptila |
| Species: | P. cayennensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Panyptila cayennensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
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The lesser swallow-tailed swift or cayenne swift (Panyptila cayennensis) is a resident breeding bird from southern Mexico and Tobago] south to Ecuador, eastern Peru and Brazil.
Taxonomy
The lesser swallow-tailed swift was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the swallows and swifts in the genus Hirundo and coined the binomial name Hirundo cayennensis.[2] Gmelin based his description on the "Martinet à collier blanc" that had been described in 1779 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana.[3] A hand-coloured illustration of the bird was also published.[4] The lesser swallow-tailed swift is now placed with the great swallow-tailed swift in the genus Panyptila that was introduced in 1847 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis.[5][6] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek panu meaning "very" or "exceedingly" with ptilon meaning "wing". The specific epithet cayennensis is from Cayenne, the type locality.[7] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[6]
Description
The lesser swallow-tailed swift is a slender species, 12.7–13 cm (5.0–5.1 in) long, and weighing 18 g (0.63 oz). It has long narrow wings and a long forked tail, which is usually held tightly closed. It is mainly black with a white throat and upper breast and squarish white patches on the rear flanks. The sexes are similar.
The flight call is a high-pitched djip-djip-djip, replaced at the nest by a chattering chee-chee-chee.
Distribution and habitat
This small swift is found in range of habitats including forest clearings, more open woodland, and cultivation.
Behaviour and ecology
The flight is very fast and dashing, although it will glide at height in a more leisurely fashion.
Breeding
The nest is tubular, wider at the top, and with the entrance at its base. It is made of plant material and attached to a branch or a vertical surface. In the latter case, the entire length is fixed to the wall or trunk. Two or three white eggs are laid on a shelf in the upper part of the nest, and incubated by both parents.
Food and feeding
The lesser swallow-tailed swift feeds in flight on flying insects, especially winged ants. It is less gregarious than other swifts and is usually seen as individuals or pairs. If other swift species are present it will normally feed above them, although it stays below Cypseloides species such as chestnut-collared swift.
The bird is part of the folklore of Central and Northwestern South American countries (where it is known as pajaro macuá), and magical or mystical properties are attributed either to its song or its nest.
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2020). "Panyptila cayennensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22686759A168014391. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22686759A168014391.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 1024.
- ^ Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de (1779). "Martinet à collier blanc". Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux (in French). Vol. 6. Paris: De l'Imprimerie Royale. p. 671.
- ^ Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de; Martinet, François-Nicolas; Daubenton, Edme-Louis; Daubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie (1765–1783). "Martinet à collier, de Cayenne". Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. 8. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. Plate 725 fig. 2.
- ^ Cabanis, Jean (1847). "Ornithologische Notizen". Archiv für Naturgeschichte (in German). 13: 186-256; 308-352 [345].
- ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 291, 95. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- Swifts by Chantler and Driessens, ISBN 1-873403-83-6
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
External links
- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Panyptila
- Birds of Mexico
- Birds of Central America
- Birds of Colombia
- Birds of Venezuela
- Birds of Ecuador
- Birds of the Netherlands Antilles
- Birds of the Guianas
- Birds of the Amazon Basin
- Birds of Trinidad and Tobago
- Birds of the Atlantic Forest
- Birds described in 1789
- Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin