The Andean swift (''Aeronautes andecolus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in subfamily

Apodinae The Apodinae are a subfamily of swifts and contain the following species: Tribe Collocaliini - swiftlets * Genus ''Collocalia'' :* Plume-toed swiftlet (''Collocalia affinis'') :* Grey-rumped swiftlet (''Collocalia marginata'') :* Ridgetop swi ...

of the swift family

Apodidae The Apodidae, or swifts, form a family of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are not closely related to any passerine species. Swifts are placed in the order Apodiformes along with hummingbirds. The treeswifts ar ...

. It is found in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The Andean swift was at one time placed in genus ''Micropus'' which was later merged into ''Aeronautes'', and also in genus ''Apus'' from which it was split. Three subspecies are recognized, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

''A. a. andecolus'', ''A. a. parvulus'', and ''A. a. peruvianus''. left, Andean swift flying

Description

The Andean swift is about long. It has sharply pointed wings and a long deeply forked tail. The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have mostly black upperparts with a white collar and band on the rump. Their face and underparts are mostly white to off-white with mottled buff on the flanks and vent. Subspecies ''A. a. parvulus'' is smaller than the nominate and the borders between black and white areas are very sharply defined. ''A. a. peruvianus'' is also smaller than the nominate. Its tail is shorter and less deeply forked, its white

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

is purer, and it has darker undertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

.Chantler, P. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Andean Swift (''Aeronautes andecolus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.andswi1.01 retrieved October 7, 2022

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''A. a. parvulus'' of the Andean swift is the northernmost; it is found on the western slope of the Andes from Peru's Cajamarca Department south into far northern Chile's

Tarapacá Region The Tarapacá Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order Administrative divisions of Chile, administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Iquique Province, Iquique and Tamarugal Province, Tamarugal. It borders the Chilean Arica y Par ...

. The nominate ''A. a. andecolus'' is found from central Bolivia south to

Río Negro Province Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Its cap ...

in west central Argentina. ''A. a. peruvianus'' is restricted to the east slope of the Andes in southeastern Peru. The Andean swift mostly inhabits semi-arid montane scrub landscapes though it is also found in both drier and more humid areas. It is occasionally seen over forested slopes. In elevation it mostly ranges between in Peru and Bolivia and between in Argentina. It has been recorded above in Peru.

Behavior

Movement

The Andean swift is a year-round resident throughout its range, though it may temporarily move to lower elevations to avoid snowstorms.

Feeding

Like all swifts, the Andean is an aerial

insectivore file:Common brown robberfly with prey.jpg, A Asilidae, robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivore, carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the Entomophagy ...

, but no details of its diet are known. It often forages in flocks with wintering

chimney swift The chimney swift (''Chaetura pelagica'') is a bird belonging to the swift family Apodidae. A member of the genus ''Chaetura'', it is closely related to both Vaux's swift and Chapman's swift; in the past, the three were sometimes considered to ...

s (''Chaetura pelagica'').

Breeding

Little is known about the Andean swift's breeding biology. It has been documented nesting in holes in steep rock faces, including behind waterfalls, but the nest itself has not been described.

Vocalization

The Andean swift's most common vocalization is "a buzzy, grating 'tzee-tz-tz-trrr...tzee-tz-tz-tzee...'." It also makes "a series of single notes 'tzree..tzree..tzree...'."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the Andean swift as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is generally considered common, though uncommon in northern Chile and "local and irregular" in parts of Argentina.

References

External links

Photo
{{Taxonbar, from=Q490476 Andean swift Birds of the Andes Birds of the Puna grassland Andean swift Taxonomy articles created by Polbot