''Collocalia'' is a genus of

swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

s, containing some of the smaller species termed "

swiftlet Swiftlets are birds from the four genera ''Aerodramus'', ''Collocalia'', ''Hydrochous'' and ''Schoutedenapus'', which form the tribe (biology), tribe Collocaliini within the swift (bird), swift family (biology), family Apodidae. The group contain ...

s". Formerly a catch-all genus for these, a number of its former members are now normally (though not by all authors) placed in ''

Aerodramus ''Aerodramus'' is a genus of small, dark, cave-nesting birds in the swiftlet, Collocaliini tribe (biology), tribe of the Swift (bird), swift family. Its members are confined to tropical and subtropical regions in southern Asia, Oceania and north ...

''. The genus ''Collocalia'' was introduced by the English zoologist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoology, zoologist and author, and head of the Ornithology, ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, London f ...

in 1854. The name ''Collocalia'' combines the classical Greek words ''kolla'' meaning "glue" and ''kalia'' for "nest". The genus previously contained fewer species. Seven

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

glossy swiftlet 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. Taxonomy The glossy swi ...

were promoted to species status based on a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus ''Collocalia'' published in 2017. Balinsasayaw in the Nest

Species

Extant

The genus now contains the following 11 species: * Plume-toed swiftlet, ''Collocalia affinis'' (formerly treated as a

of the glossy swiftlet) *

Grey-rumped swiftlet The grey-rumped swiftlet (''Collocalia marginata'') or grey-rumped swiftlet, is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines where it is found on most islands except Mindanao. Its natural habitat is tropical moist ...

, ''Collocalia marginata'' (formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet) * Ridgetop swiftlet, ''Collocalia isonota'' (formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet) * Tenggara swiftlet, ''Collocalia sumbawae'' (formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet) * Drab swiftlet, ''Collocalia neglecta'' (formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet) *

Glossy swiftlet 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. Taxonomy The glossy swi ...

, ''Collocalia esculenta'' *

Satin swiftlet The satin swiftlet (''Collocalia uropygialis'') 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 ...

, ''Collocalia uropygialis'' (formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet) * Bornean swiftlet, ''Collocalia dodgei'' *

Cave swiftlet The cave swiftlet or linchi swiftlet (''Collocalia linchi'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found on the Indonesia islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali. It is a woodland species and nests in caves. The Bornean swiftlet was con ...

, ''Collocalia linchi'' *

Christmas Island swiftlet The Christmas Island swiftlet (''Collocalia natalis''), also known as the Christmas glossy swiftlet or the Christmas cave swiftlet, is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the e ...

, ''Collocalia natalis'' (formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet) *

Pygmy swiftlet The pygmy swiftlet (''Collocalia troglodytes'') is a species of Swift (bird), swift in the family Apodidae. It is Endemism, endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. At under , it is the world's smallest ...

, ''Collocalia troglodytes''

Fossil species

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

swiftlet from the Riversleigh deposits of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

was described as '' Collocalia buday''. This as well as a right

ulna The ulna or ulnar bone (: ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone in the forearm stretching from the elbow to the wrist. It is on the same side of the forearm as the little finger, running parallel to the Radius (bone), radius, the forearm's other long ...

( MNZ S42799) found at the Bannockburn Formation of the

Manuherikia Group The Manuherikia Group is a fluvial- lacustrine sedimentary fill in the Central Otago area of New Zealand, at the site of the prehistoric Lake Manuherikia. The area consists of a valley and ridge topography, with a series of schist-greywacke moun ...

near the

Manuherikia River The Manuherikia River is located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the far north of the Maniototo, with the West Branch draining the eastern side of the St Bathans Range, and the East Branch draining the western flanks of ...

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Dating from the Early to Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

( Altonian, 19–16

million years ago Million years ago, abbreviated as Mya, Myr (megayear) or Ma (megaannum), is a unit of time equal to (i.e. years), or approximately 31.6 teraseconds. Usage Myr is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used w ...

),Worthy ''et al.'' (2007) probably belongs to ''

''.

References

Bibliography

* Worthy, Trevor H.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Jones, C.; McNamara, J.A. & Douglas, B.J. (2007): Miocene waterfowl and other birds from central Otago, New Zealand. '' J. Syst. Palaeontol.'' 5(1): 1-39. (HTML abstract) Swifts Taxa named by George Robert Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{apodiformes-stub