The Lesser Antillean swift (''Chaetura martinica'') is a species 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 lightweig ...

in subfamily Apodinae 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 ...

.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 on Dominica,

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...

, Saint Vincent, and possibly

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Lesser Antillean swift, pale-rumped swift (''C. egregia''), grey-rumped swift (''C. cinereiventris''), and

band-rumped swift The band-rumped swift (''Chaetura spinicaudus'') is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found from Panama south through Colombia into Ecuador, east from Venezuela into the Guianas and Brazil, and on Trini ...

(''C. spinicaudus'') were at one time placed in genus ''Acanthylis''. The Lesser Antillean 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 Lesser Antillean swift is long and weighs an average of . It has a protruding head, a short square tail, and wings that bulge in the middle and somewhat hook at the end. The sexes are alike. Adults have black-brown upperparts with a narrow gray band on the rump. Their underparts are brown with a paler throat. Juveniles have white tips on some wing feathers.

Distribution and habitat

The Lesser Antillean swift is found on the islands of Guadeloupe in the southern Leeward Islands and Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent in the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea Nor ...

. There is also an undocumented sight record further north on Nevis. It principally inhabits tropical lowland

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperat ...

but is also found over

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. ...

and open areas including drier ones.

Behavior

Movement

The Lesser Antillean swift is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

Like all swifts, the Lesser Antillean is an aerial insectivore. It usually forages in flocks of 20 to 40; the flocks often include swallows. No details of its diet are known.

Breeding

The Lesser Antillean swift's breeding season appears to be in late spring and early summer. It makes a half-cup nest attached to a vertical surface. The clutch size is three eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.

Vocalization

The Lesser Antillean swift's principal call is "a high-pitched twittering trill 'prrrrrrrr' or 'prrrrrrr-titi' given at intervals."

Status

The IUCN has assessed the Lesser Antillean swift as being of Least Concern. It has a limited range and its population size is unknown but believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered uncommon on Guadeloupe and fairly common on the other islands.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q772340 lesser Antillean swift Birds of the Lesser Antilles lesser Antillean swift Taxonomy articles created by Polbot