The great swallow-tailed swift (''Panyptila sanctihieronymi'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in subfamily

Apodinae The Apodinae are a subfamily of swifts and contain the following species: Tribe Collocaliini - swiftlets * Genus ''Collocalia'' :* Plume-toed swiftlet (''Collocalia affinis'') :* Grey-rumped swiftlet (''Collocalia marginata'') :* Ridgetop swiftl ...

of the swift family

Apodidae The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are not closely related to any passerine species. Swifts are placed in the order Apodiformes with hummingbirds. The treeswifts are closely r ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022 It is found in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The great swallow-tailed swift shares genus ''Panyptila'' with the lesser swallow-tailed swift (''P. cayennensis''). It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

Description

The great swallow-tailed swift is long and weighs about . It has long narrow wings and a long deeply forked tail. The sexes are alike. Adults have a black crown and upper face with two white spots on the forehead. Most of their body is bluish black. Their lower face, throat, collar, upper chest, and flanks are white. Their flight feathers have grayish ends and white tips.van Dort, J. (2020). Great Swallow-tailed Swift (''Panyptila sanctihieronymi''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.gstswi1.01 retrieved October 8, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The great swallow-tailed swift is found from

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

in western Mexico south through Guatemala and Honduras into northern Nicaragua. There are also a few records in Costa Rica. It generally inhabits arid to semi-arid highland landscapes characterized by canyons and large cliffs. In elevation it typically ranges between but sometimes wanders to humid areas as low as .

Behavior

Movement

The great swallow-tailed swift is generally a year-round resident throughout its range but some wander to Costa Rica outside the breeding season.

Feeding

Like all swifts, the great swallow-tailed swift is an aerial insectivore. It usually forages alone or in small flocks of its species. Details of its diet are lacking.

Breeding

The great swallow-tailed swift builds a tubular nest about long from seed fluff and feathers felted with saliva. It has an entrance near the bottom and the eggs are held on shelf towards the top. It is suspended from the underside of an overhanging rock. The clutch size us unknown but is suspected to be the same two or three eggs as that of the lesser swallow-tailed swift. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Vocalization

Two vocalizations of the great swallow-tailed swift are "a plaintive, subtly bisyllabic ''teeuw, teeuw''" and "a reedy chatter ''kri-kri-kri-kri-kreeuw-kreee''".

Status

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 ...

has assessed the great swallow-tailed swift as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and an estimated population of between 20,000 and 50,000 mature individuals. The latter is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. Some authors believe it is one of the rarer swifts but it appears to be common in at least Honduras.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1273983

great swallow-tailed swift The great swallow-tailed swift (''Panyptila sanctihieronymi'') is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital c ...

Birds of Central America Birds of Mexico Birds of Guatemala Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot