Glossy Swiftlet

About 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. The glossy swiftlet was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Hirundo esculenta. The type locality is Ambon Island, one of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The specific epithet esculenta is from esculentus the Latin word for "edible".

There are 17 recognised subspecies: C. e. minuta Stresemann, 1925 – Tanahjampea (Paula Jampea) and Kalao Island (in the Flores Sea south of Sulawesi) C. e. esculenta (Linnaeus, 1758) – central and southern Sulawesi through Banggai and Sula Islands to central and southern Maluku Islands (possibly Aru Islands)

C. e. manadensis Salomonsen, 1983 – northern Sulawesi to Sangihe Islands and the Talaud Islands C. e. spilura Gray, GR, 1866 – northern Maluku Islands C. e. amethystina Salomonsen, 1983 – Waigeo Island (off northwestern New Guinea)

C. e. numforensis Salomonsen, 1983 – island of Numfor (off northwestern New Guinea) C. e. nitens Ogilvie... Wikipedia →