Fork-tailed Palm-Swift

About the Fork-tailed Palm-Swift

The fork-tailed palm swift or Neotropical palm swift (Tachornis squamata) is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found across most of northern South America and on Trinidad and Tobago.

The fork-tailed palm swift was for a time placed in genus Reinarda that was later merged into Tachornis. It has two subspecies, the nominate T. s. squamata and T. s. semota. Despite the similarity in their names, it is in a different genus than the Old World Cypsiurus African, Malagasy, and Asian palm swifts.

The fork-tailed palm swift is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long and weighs 9 to 13.6 g (0.32 to 0.48 oz). It has long narrow wings and a long deeply forked tail. The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies T. s. squamata have blackish brown upperparts with a slight greenish gloss and pale gray edges on the feathers; the rump is slightly paler. Their cheeks are grayish brown and the throat very pale brownish white with dusky mottling. The rest of their underparts are pale with light brown mottling that is sparsest in the center of the belly. Their undertail coverts are blackish brown with pale edges. Juveniles... Wikipedia →