The band-rumped swift (''Chaetura spinicaudus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

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 swiftl ...

of the swift family

Apodidae The swifts are a family, Apodidae, 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 with hummingbirds. The treeswifts are closely ...

. It is found from

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

south through Colombia into

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

, east from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

into

the Guianas The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and on

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

.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, 2022Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The band-rumped swift,

pale-rumped swift The pale-rumped swift (''Chaetura egregia'') is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the b ...

(''C. egregia''),

grey-rumped swift The grey-rumped swift or gray-rumped swift (''Chaetura cinereiventris'') is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife Internation ...

(''C. cinereiventris''), and

Lesser Antillean swift The Lesser Antillean swift (''Chaetura martinica'') is a species a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital c ...

(''C. martinica'') were at one time placed in genus ''Acanthylis''. During much of the 20th century the

Costa Rican swift The Costa Rican swift (''Chaetura fumosa'') is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the bi ...

(''C. fumosa'') was treated as a subspecies of the band-rumped. Since then the band-rumped swift has been assigned 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 ...

''C. s. spinicaudus'' and ''C. s. aetherodroma''. Other subspecies have been proposed but not accepted.

Description

The band-rumped swift is long and weighs . It has a protruding head, a short square tail, and wings that bulge in the middle and somewhat hook at the end. The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have black-brown upperparts with a white band on the rump. Their underparts are dark with a slightly paler throat. Juveniles have white tips on some wing feathers. Subspecies ''C. s. aetherodroma'' is smaller than the nominate; its rump patch is grayer and its throat paler.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of band-rumped swift is found in eastern Venezuela, the Guianas, and north and central Brazil. There is also a small isolated population in coastal eastern Brazil. Subspecies ''C. s. aetherodroma'' is found from central Panama south through western Colombia to southwestern Ecuador. In most of its range it inhabits the edges of lowland

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperat ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

. In Amazonia it is also found over highland forest and cleared areas, and in northern Venezuela inhabits only open areas.

Behavior

Movement

The band-rumped swift is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

Like all swifts, the band-rumped is an aerial insectivore. It feeds in single-species flocks at fairly high altitude, but when it feeds with other species of swift it tends to stay in the lower part of the flock. It often feeds over water at dawn and dusk. A study in Panama found its diet there was mostly Diptera, Hymenoptera, and

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

. It addition to feeding on the wing, it has been observed hovering briefly to take prey from foliage.

Breeding

The band-rumped swift's breeding season apparently varies geographically but in general is within February to June. On Trinidad it nests in hollow trees. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Vocalization

The nominate subspecies of band-rumped swift "gives a diagnostic bisyllabic 'pseee-trr' or more burry 'prrrree-trtr'" and sometimes also "several repeated notes 'tsee-tsee-tsee'". The vocalizations of subspecies ''C. s. aetherodroma'' are not well known.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the band-rumped swift as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range and an estimated population of at least 500,000 mature individuals. The population is believed to be slowly decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered uncommon to common in Ecuador and common to abundant in most of the rest of its range. It occurs in many protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1265667

band-rumped swift The band-rumped swift (''Chaetura spinicaudus'') is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found from Panama south through Colombia into Ecuador, east from Venezuela into the Guianas and Brazil, and on Trini ...

Birds of Panama Birds of Colombia Birds of Ecuador Birds of Venezuela Birds of Trinidad and Tobago Birds of the Amazon rainforest

Birds of Brazil