Whitehead's swiftlet (''Aerodramus whiteheadi'') is a species 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 ...

in the 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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It is named after the British explorer John Whitehead (1860–1899). Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s. Its status is insufficiently known.

Description and taxonomy

Ebird describes it as "Uncommon dark swiftlet. Endemic to a smattering of the Philippines islands, from Luzon to Mindanao to Palawan. Habitat can be helpful in identifying this confusing species; generally favors ridges and slopes in montane and submontane areas above 700-800 meters. Readily confused with significantly larger Ameline Swiftlet, but present species has a more squared-off-looking tail (fork is shallow and often unnoticeable), tends to fly lower and more erratically, and more often forms flocks. Combination of dark rump, unglossed dark back, and medium size separates this species from Gray-rumped Swiftlet, Pygmy Swiftlet, and Ridgetop Swiftlet. Frequently calls while in flight, giving a squeaky chattering twitter."

Subspecies

Two

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 ...

are recognized: * ''A. w whiteheadi'' – Found on

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, only records on Mt. Data * ''A. w. origenis –'' Found on

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

Ecology and behavior

Diet is unknown but it is pressumed to have the typical diet of insects caught in flight. Nothing is known about its breeding behaviour except nests were collected on Mt. Apo from a hollow tree in July.

Habitat and conservation status

Its natural

s are tropical montane forest beginning at 1,000 meters above sea level. It is listed as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature 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 stat ...

with the population believed to be decreasing. Its difficulty to identify reliably, lack of records and inaccessibility of its montane habitat make it difficult to determine this species status. However, its habitat is threatened by deforestation from illegal logging, land conversion and mining.

References

Whitehead's swiftlet Whitehead's swiftlet (''Aerodramus whiteheadi'') is a species of Swift (bird), swift in the family Apodidae. It is Endemism, endemic to the Philippines. It is named after the British explorer John Whitehead (explorer), John Whitehead (1860–1899 ...

Endemic birds of the Philippines

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{apodiformes-stub