''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 * SWIFT, ...

s, containing some of the smaller species termed "

swiftlet Swiftlets are birds contained within the four genera ''Aerodramus'', ''Hydrochous'', ''Schoutedenapus'' and ''Collocalia''. They form the Collocaliini tribe within the swift family Apodidae. The group contains around thirty species mostly confine ...

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 Collocaliini tribe of the swift family. Its members are confined to tropical and subtropical regions in southern Asia, Oceania and northeastern Australia. Many of its members ...

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

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother o ...

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 biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

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 s ...

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 The plume-toed swiftlet (''Collocalia affinis'') is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is found on some eastern Indian Ocean islands, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and lowland Borneo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical ...

, ''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 some islands in the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It ...

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

Ridgetop swiftlet The ridgetop swiftlet (''Collocalia isonota'') is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It was previously considered a subspecies of th ...

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

Tenggara swiftlet The Tenggara swiftlet (''Collocalia sumbawae'') is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to the western Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It was previous ...

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

Drab swiftlet The drab swiftlet (''Collocalia neglecta'') is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet. Taxonomy The drab swiftlet was ...

, ''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 s ...

, ''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 ...

, ''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 in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest is an area of land dominated by ...

, ''Collocalia troglodytes''

Fossil species

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma to 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). It was prece ...

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 preserved ...

swiftlet from the Riversleigh deposits of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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

ulna The ulna (''pl''. ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger, and when in anatomical position, is found on the medial side of the forearm. That is, the ulna is on the same side of t ...

( MNZ S42799) found at the

Bannockburn Formation 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 mount ...

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 mountai ...

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 t ...

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

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Dating from the Early to Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recen ...

( Altonian, 19-16

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago). ...

),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