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Chestnut-collared Swift | Streptoprocne rutila
Bruinkraaggierzwaluw | Vencejo cuello castaño
The Chestnut-collared Swift is a medium-sized, dark swift of the mountains of Central and South America. In the Caribbean it is found only on Trinidad, where it lives in the Northern Range. It often feeds in flocks, also mixed with other swifts, and can then be told by the rufous collar of the males.
Voice
Buzzing, crackling calls like electric static, sometimes run together into a chatter: bzzz-tzz-tzz-tzz.
Recording: Mitch Lysinger — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
12–14 cm, dark sooty brown, with fairly broad wings and a short, slightly notched tail without obvious spines. The male has a broad rufous band across the lower throat and upper breast, continuing round the neck to the nape. In the female the collar is narrower, incomplete or absent, and the plumage slightly paler. Juveniles have little or no collar and pale fringes to the feathers. In poor light the collar disappears and the bird looks uniformly blackish brown.
Confusion species
White-collared Swift Streptoprocne zonaris is much larger, with a white rather than rufous collar. The Chaetura swifts, such as Grey-rumped Swift Chaetura cinereiventris, Band-rumped Swift Chaetura spinicaudus and Short-tailed Swift Chaetura brachyura, are smaller, with a pale rump and a short, spine-tipped tail. Females and juveniles without a collar resemble American Black Swift Cypseloides niger, which is rare on Trinidad and has longer, narrower wings.
Habitat
Feeds over forested hills and mountains, valleys and river gorges, and over clearings and villages at the forest edge; mainly in the hills, but lower down in bad weather. It takes flying insects high or low over the forest. It nests on small ledges or in niches of damp, shady rock walls near water: in gorges, caves, beside or behind waterfalls, and sometimes under bridges or in culverts. The nest is a cup of mud with moss, liverworts and ferns.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
Within the region only on Trinidad, mainly in the Northern Range; it is not known from Tobago. Outside the region from Mexico through Central America and along the Andes and the coastal ranges of Venezuela to Peru and Bolivia.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Look in the valleys of the Northern Range, such as the Arima Valley, where groups of swifts feed over the forested slopes. Before and after rain showers the birds often fly low. Scanning a flock carefully pays off: the males' rufous collar shows only in good light, and the larger, uniformly dark birds stand out among the smaller Chaetura swifts.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species has a large range and appears stable. On Trinidad it is locally common; disturbance of nest sites in gorges and caves is a possible local risk.
Scientific name
Streptoprocne rutila | (Vieillot, 1817)
Vieillot described the species in 1817 as Hirundo rutila; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Streptoprocne was introduced in 1906 by Oberholser. Streptoprocne is Greek, from streptos 'collar' and Procne, the figure of Greek myth turned into a swallow, after the coloured collar. rutila is Latin for 'reddish, golden-red', after the chestnut collar. The specimen the first description was based on came from the Guianas (not specified).