The golden swallow (''Tachycineta euchrysea'') is a
swallow
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...
endemic to the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
island of
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
(split between the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
and
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
) and was once native to
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, but is now
extirpated
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
there. It is restricted to isolated
montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
s that primarily consist of the
Hispaniolan pine
''Pinus occidentalis'', also known as the Hispaniolan pine or Hispaniola pine, (or in Spanish: pino criollo ) is a pine tree endemic to the island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti).
Ecology
It is the eponymous spe ...
(''Pinus occidentalis''). This species is considered to be a
vulnerable species
A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...
by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
(IUCN). The exact cause of its extirpation from Jamaica is unknown, but likely factors include predation by
introduced mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s and
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
, although the habitat loss theory is not supported by much evidence. The last sighting of the nominate subspecies was in
Hardwar Gap (located on the boundary between
Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
and
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
parishes), with three birds being seen on 8 June 1989.
A relatively small swallow, the Jamaican subspecies had bronze upperparts and bronze sides of the head. The ears and
lores were duller and the forehead area was more green than
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
. The shoulders, back, rump, and uppertail-
coverts
A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts
The ear coverts are sm ...
were, on the other hand, a coppery-bronze colour. The lesser and median coverts were more coppery, with the greater and primary-wing-coverts more of a dusky green. The primaries, secondaries, and tail were a dusky bronze-green. The underparts were mostly white. The legs, feet, and
irides were dark brown, and the bill was black. The female was similar, but with its breast, and occasionally throat and undertail-coverts, mottled grey-brown. The juvenile was also mottled-grey brown, and duller overall. The Hispaniolan subspecies, ''T. e. sclateri'', is primarily differentiated by its more deeply forked tail, blue-green forehead and uppertail-coverts, and blue-black wings and tail.
In Hispaniola, this swallow breeds from April to July, where it lays a
clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
consisting of two to four white eggs. It formerly bred from June to July in Jamaica. The eggs are laid in a
cup nest that is mainly found in Hispaniolan pine. It also nests in caves, under the eaves of houses, in burned stands, and in nest boxes. This swallow is an aerial
insectivore
A robber fly eating a hoverfly
An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects.
The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...
, foraging for insects at heights that are usually under , and very rarely at heights over . When foraging, it is known to explore most habitats except forests.
Taxonomy and etymology
The golden swallow was first described as ''Hirundo euchrysea'' by English naturalist
Henry Gosse, in his 1847 book ''The Birds of Jamaica'',
many years after European settlement of the island. Early naturalists were not aware of this species.
The current genus ''
Tachycineta
''Tachycineta'' is a genus of birds in the swallow family Hirundinidae. There are nine described species all restricted to the Americas.
These are slender swallows with forked tails. Most species have a metallic green back, green or blue head, ...
'', on the other hand, was originally described in 1850 by the ornithologist
Jean Cabanis
Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist.
Cabanis was born in Berlin to an old Huguenot family who had moved from France. Little is known of his early life. He studied at the University of Berlin from 18 ...
.
The binomial name is from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
. ''Tachycineta'' is from ''takhukinetos'', "moving quickly", and the specific ''euchrysea'' is from ''eukhrusos'', meaning "rich in gold". This is derived from ''eu'', meaning "plenty", and ''khruseios'', meaning "golden".
This species has two subspecies; the second, ''Tachycineta euchrysea sclateri'', was originally suspected of being a distinct species by
Henry Bryant in 1866, who recorded it as "var. ''dominicensis''?" and noted differences in plumage from the nominate subspecies in Jamaica. However, his report lacked a
species description
A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...
. It was finally described as ''Hirundo sclateri'' in 1884 by American ornithologist
Charles Cory
Charles Barney Cory (January 31, 1857 – July 31, 1921) was an American ornithologist and golfer.
Biography
Cory was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father had made a fortune from a large import business, ensuring that his son never had to ...
,
who felt it distinct enough to warrant separate species status.
The subspecies name ''sclateri'' is dedicated to
Philip Sclater
Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...
, an English
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
.
The nominate subspecies, ''T. e. euchrysea'', is extinct.
This swallow, along with the
violet-green swallow
The violet-green swallow (''Tachycineta thalassina'') is a small North American passerine bird in the Hirundinidae, swallow family. These aerial insectivores are distributed along the west coast from Alaska to Mexico, extending as far east as Mon ...
and
Bahama swallow
The Bahama swallow (''Tachycineta cyaneoviridis'') is an endangered swallow endemic to The Bahamas.
Description
This glossy ''Tachycineta'' swallow has a green head and back, blue upper wings, a black tail and wingtips, and a white belly and chi ...
, comprise a
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
. It is also considered to be of the
subgenus
In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...
''Tachycineta'', the nominate subgenus, in addition to the violet-green swallow, Bahama swallow, and
tree swallow
The tree swallow (''Tachycineta bicolor'') is a migratory bird of the family Hirundinidae. Found in the Americas, the tree swallow was first described in 1807 by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot as ''Hirundo bicolor''. It has since been mov ...
.
Description
![Tachycineta euchrysea 1894](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Tachycineta_euchrysea_1894.jpg)
A small
swallow
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...
, the golden swallow measures, on average, . The adult of the nominate subspecies' upperparts, including the sides of the head, the cheek, and the chin, are an iridescent bronze. The ear coverts and lores are duller, and the forehead, crown, and nape are more green. This contrasts with the golden or coppery-bronze colouring of the mantle, shoulders, back, rump, and uppertail-coverts. The lesser and median-coverts are more coppery, with the greater and primary wing-coverts being more green and dusky. The edges of the greater coverts and tertials are more golden. The primaries, secondaries, tail, axillaries, and underwing-coverts are dusky bronze-green, with the axillaries and underwing-coverts having this colour only on the edges. The tail is only slightly forked on the nominate subspecies, unlike the more deeply forked tail of the other subspecies, ''sclateri''. Its underparts are white, with dusky bronze streaks on the flanks. The legs and the feet are dark brown and the bill is black. Its
irides are also dark brown. The female is similar, although some of the underparts, specifically the breast and occasionally the throat and undertail-coverts, are mottled grey-brown.
The mottling around the breast and collar is likely to decrease over time.
The juvenile, like the female, is mottled grey-brown. The juvenile also has less glossy plumage and the sides of its head are a dusky grey.
![Tachycineta euchrysea sclateri 1894](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Tachycineta_euchrysea_sclateri_1894.jpg)
The other subspecies, ''sclateri'', has slightly longer wings and a smaller bill. The plumage is less golden, with the forehead and uppertail-coverts being blue-green, and with both the wings and tail being blue-black.
The underparts of ''T. e. sclateri'' also vary in being pure white without streaks.
This bird has a soft, two-note call, often described as a ''tchee-weet'', that is repeated.
Distribution and habitat
The golden swallow is native to the island of
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
, and formerly
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. The subspecies that resided in Jamaica, ''Tachycineta euchrysea euchrysea'', is extinct. It was found up to elevations of , from
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
on Jamaica, and currently found from on Hispaniola.
It is likely that this species, when not breeding, moves down to lower altitudes.
The estimated extent of occurrence for this swallow is .
Primarily inhabiting hills of the interior of islands, this swallow prefers open country, but will occasionally be seen in
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s and over towns.
It is restricted to patches of montane forest that consist primarily of Hispaniolan pine.
Never common in Jamaica, it was restricted to mountainous limestone country in the island's interior.
Behaviour
Breeding
The golden swallow usually builds its deep
cup nest in dead snags, especially those of the Hispaniolan pine, in holes created by woodpeckers,
primarily the
Hispaniolan woodpecker
The Hispaniolan woodpecker (''Melanerpes striatus'') is a medium-sized woodpecker endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti).
Description
The Hispaniolan woodpecker is a gold and black barred ...
. It also nests in caves, under the
eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
of houses, and in recently burned
stands.
The nests are made with fine
vegetable fibre
Fiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope.
Fiber crops are characterized by having a large concentration of cellulose, which is what gives them their strength. The fibers may b ...
s like silk, cotton, and pappus, with the seeds being broken off from the fibres. The nests are lined with cotton, silk, and feathers. One nest had a diameter of about , and a depth of about .
The breeding season occurred from June to July in Jamaica, and occurs from April to July in Hispaniola.
When breeding, the golden swallow usually nests in pairs and occasionally will nest in colonies.
This swallow is not known to compete for nests with any other birds. The only species, an insect, that is known to inhabit nest boxes occupied by golden swallows is ''
Polyancistrus loripes'', a species of
katydid
Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...
. Only about 9.6% of nesting attempts are second nesting attempts, although this number may be low.
The
clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
of this swallow is two to four white to creamy white eggs with little spotting.
The eggs measure around , and weigh on average. They are generally laid one per day, although there are instances of the female skipping a day in laying. The incubation period ranges from 17 to 20 days, with the female incubating the young. The young usually fledge 24 to 27 days after they hatch.
Diet
This species is an aerial insectivore,
usually feeding on
flies
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
,
Hemiptera
Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...
(or true bugs), and various other insects. It usually can be seen to forage low to the ground, either by itself or in small groups.
It is not usually found to forage above , and very rarely above .
Black swift
The American black swift, or more simply black swift (''Cypseloides niger''), is a species of bird that is found from northern British Columbia in Canada through the United States and Mexico to Costa Rica and Brazil. They are also found in the Ca ...
s flying below are frequently found near golden swallows when the swallows are foraging. It is known to forage in most habitats except the forest. Generally, the golden swallow starts to forage at dawn, with activity increasing in the morning and decreasing during the afternoon.
Predators
The golden swallow is victim to various mammalian nest predators, including the introduced
small Indian mongoose
The small Indian mongoose (''Urva auropunctata'') is a mongoose species native to Iraq and northern South Asia; it has also been introduced to many regions of the world, such as several Caribbean and Pacific islands.
Taxonomy
''Mangusta auropun ...
, feral cats, and multiple species of rats.
These predators are thought to be linked to the extinction of the nominate subspecies in Jamaica.
Nests on or near the ground in mines are especially vulnerable.
Status
![Adult female Hispaniolan Golden Swallow in hand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Adult_female_Hispaniolan_Golden_Swallow_in_hand.jpg)
The golden swallow is considered to be a
vulnerable species
A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...
by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
. This status is on account of the small, fragmented, and decreasing population and range. The nominate subspecies is extinct; predation appears to be a factor.
The remaining ''T. e. sclateri'' population is declining, mostly due to shifting agriculture and predation by introduced mammalian species.
The population is estimated to be anywhere from 1,500 to 7,000 mature birds, in an area estimated to be .
This swallow is legally protected in Jamaica,
although it is extinct there.
Not known to the early settlers on the island,
it was considered to be common in the 1800s, but it declined and eventually became rare in the 1890s. In the last half of the 1900s, it was restricted to the area of
Cockpit Country east to the
Blue Mountains.
The last specimens collected were a pair from
Portland Parish
Portland, with its capital town Port Antonio, is a parish located on Jamaica's northeast coast. It is situated to the north of St Thomas and to the east of St Mary in Surrey County. It is one of the rural areas of Jamaica, containing part ...
on 9 August 1908; the last confirmed sighting was in the Blue Mountains in 1950. It was regarded as rare from the 1960s to the 1980s, although its precarious status was not realised at the time.
In 1987, the last major roosting site of this subspecies was destroyed.
Birdwatchers in the Gosse Bird Club reported two probable sightings of several birds on Barbecue Bottom Road in
Trelawny Parish
Trelawny (Jamaican Patois: ''Trilaani'' or ''Chrilaani'') is a parish in the county of Cornwall in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Eliza ...
in August and September 1982, while the last (and unconfirmed) report is of three birds at
Hardwar Gap (located on the boundary between
Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
and Portland parishes) on 8 June 1989.
Curator of Birds Gary R. Graves of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
spent 18 years scouring the island for evidence of the subspecies without success. He is doubtful of its survival, as it is
diurnal, and Jamaica is a popular destination for birdwatchers. The exact cause of the extinction is unknown, but predation by introduced mammals, especially the
black rat
The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...
and the Indian mongoose, is thought to be a factor. Graves points out that there is little evidence habitat loss has played a role.
Graves also added that the swallows adapted to nesting in man-made structures.
In general, this swallow is not affected by being near human disturbance.
It is proposed that nest boxes be used to counter habitat loss and predation in Hispaniola.
References
External links
*
*
BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Featured article
golden swallow
Endemic birds of the Caribbean
Endemic birds of Hispaniola
Birds of the Dominican Republic
Birds of Haiti
golden swallow
golden swallow