The white-chested swift (''Cypseloides lemosi'') 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

Cypseloidinae The Cypseloidinae are a subfamily of swifts and contain the following species: * Genus ''Cypseloides'' :* Spot-fronted swift (''Cypseloides cherriei'') :* White-chinned swift (''Cypseloides cryptus'') :* Sooty swift (''Cypseloides fumigatus' ...

of the swift family Apodidae.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

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and possibly Brazil.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The white-chested swift,

American 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 ...

(''Cypseloides niger''),

Rothschild's swift Rothschild's swift (''Cypseloides rothschildi'') is a Near Threatened species of bird in subfamily Cypseloidinae of the swift family Apodidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International di ...

(''C. rothschildi''), and

sooty swift The sooty swift (''Cypseloides fumigatus'') is a species of bird in subfamily Cypseloidinae of the swift family Apodidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of th ...

(''C. fumigatus'') form a superspecies.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022 The white-chested swift 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 white-chested swift is long and weighs about . Both sexes have a notched tail, with the male's notch being deeper. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have sooty blackish upperparts with a faint green gloss on the crown and back and bluish wings and tail. They are black between the bill and eye. They have a large white patch across the breast that is wider in the middle. The rest of their underparts are paler than the upperparts and slightly brownish. Immatures do not have the white breast band; they are dark slaty gray with white tips to most of the feathers of the underparts.Schulenberg, T. S. (2020). White-chested Swift (''Cypseloides lemosi''), 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.whcswi2.01 retrieved October 1, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The white-chested swift is known from widely scattered locations from Colombia's

Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangue in Bolivar Department, and th ...

valley south along the east slope of the Andes in Ecuador and into Peru as far south as

Cuzco Department Cusco, also spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu suyu ), is a department and region in Peru and is the fourth largest department in the country, after Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It borders the departments of Ucayali on the north; Madre de D ...

, and also east into

. An unconfirmed sight record in Brazil leads the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

to treat the species as hypothetical in that country. The white-chested swift has mostly been recorded over evergreen montane and lowland forests, but also occurs at pastures and young

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

Behavior

Migration

Because breeding by white-chested swifts has not been documented at any site, it is not known if the species is resident or migratory at any of them.

Feeding

Like all swifts, the white-chested is an aerial insectivore. Its diet is not known in detail but it has been observed feeding on small beetles. It usually forages in flocks, often with other swifts.

Breeding

Nothing is known about the white-chested swift's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

. It is assumed to nest on cliffs near water like others of its genus.

Vocalization

The white-chested swift's calls have been described as "a rapid, piping ''pi'pi'pi-pee pee'' and single ''tip'' and ''pee'' notes."

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 white-chested swift as being of Least Concern, though it has a small known range and an unknown population size that is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. "The conservation status of White-chested Swift is difficult to assess adequately, however, until the breeding range of this species is ascertained."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1273346

white-chested swift The white-chested swift (''Cypseloides lemosi'') is a species of bird in subfamily Cypseloidinae of the swift family Apodidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist o ...

Birds of the Colombian Andes Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot