The Antillean palm swift (''Tachornis phoenicobia'') 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 on the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

islands of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, and

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

(shared by the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

and

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

).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 Antillean palm swift has two subspecies: 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 ...

''T. p. phoenicobia'' Gosse, 1847, and ''T. p. iradii'' (

Lembeye Lembeye (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atlant ...

, 1850).

Description

The Antillean palm swift is long and weighs about . It has long narrow wings and a medium length forked tail. The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark sooty brown crown and nape. Their back, a narrow center strip of the rump, uppertail

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 ...

, and tail are sooty black to black. The sides of their rump are white. Their wings are sooty blackish with pale edges on the flight feathers. Most of their face is grayish brown. Their underparts are mostly dull white; their flanks, a narrow band across the breast, and undertail coverts are dark sooty brown. Immatures are similar to adults, but their underparts are an even duller white, and the flanks and undertail coverts a paler sooty brown.Damaj, O. (2020). Antillean Palm-Swift (''Tachornis phoenicobia''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.anpswi.01 retrieved October 7, 2022 The subspecies ''T. p. iradii'' is somewhat larger than the nominate, and has a more deeply forked tail. Its back is more sooty than black, its face has more extensive grayish brown, and its flanks are a paler sooty brown.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of Antillean palm swift is found on Jamaica, Hispaniola, and some small islands off the latter's coast. ''T. p. iradii'' is found on mainland Cuba and

Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; ) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Island). The island was ...

. The species has been documented as a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

in Florida and there are sight records from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

Inagua Inagua is the southernmost district of the Bahamas, comprising the islands of Great Inagua and Little Inagua. The headquarters for the district council are in Matthew Town. History The original settlers were the Lucayan people(Taíno), who arr ...

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

, and the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

. The Antillean palm swift is seen over dry grassy areas that have patches of palms, scrublands, forest, and suburban and urban areas. In elevation, it ranges as high as on Hispaniola and on Jamaica.

Behavior

Movement

The Antillean palm swift is a year-round resident throughout its range, though individuals have wandered outside it.

Feeding

Like all swifts, the Antillean palm swift is an aerial insectivore. It forages low to the ground, usually over vegetation, and usually in small flocks of its species. It sometimes forages with swallows. Details of its diet are lacking.

Breeding

The Antillean palm swift's breeding season on Cuba is May to July, and on Hispaniola, from March to May. It makes a hanging pouch nest of plant fibers and feathers glued together with saliva and hung on the outside of a dead drooping palm frond. It nests in small colonies. The clutch size is two to five; both parents incubate the eggs and care for nestlings.

Vocalization

The Antillean palm swift's flight call is described as "noisy...an almost constant, weak, twittering, ''tooee-tooee''".

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 Antillean palm 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. "This swift is adaptable to living around human habitations, and the planting of decorative palms provides nest sites for these birds."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q925478 Antillean Palm Swift Birds of the Greater Antilles Endemic birds of the Caribbean Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Haiti Birds of Cuba Birds of Jamaica Antillean palm swift Antillean palm swift