Short-tailed Swift

About the Short-tailed Swift

The short-tailed swift (Chaetura brachyura) is a bird in the Apodidae, or swift family. The species was first formally described as Acanthylis brachyura in 1846 by the Scottish naturalist Sir William Jardine, based on the observations of Mr. Kirk, a resident of Tobago.

The genus name Chaetura is derived from the Greek khaite (hair) and oura (tail). The specific epithet brachyura is Greek for brakhus (short) and ouros (tailed). Four subspecies are recognized: C. b. praevelox, found in Grenada, Saint Vincent, and Tobago

C. b. brachyura, the nominate subspecies, found from Panama to Trinidad and the Guianas, south to west-central Brazil and northern Bolivia C. b. ocypetes, found in southwest Ecuador and northwest Peru C. b. cinereocauda, found in north-central Brazil

The subspecies C. b. ocypetes is sometimes considered a full species, the Tumbes swift Chaetura ocypetes Zimmer, 1953. The swift is a common resident of Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada and Saint Vincent, and in tropical South America from Panama, Colombia and the Guianas south to Ecuador, Peru and Brazil; in Brazil, the entire Amazon Basin, excluding much of the southeastern Basin.... Wikipedia →