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Grey-rumped Swift | Chaetura cinereiventris
Grijsstuitgierzwaluw | Vencejo lomigrís
The Grey-rumped Swift is a small, dark swift of the forests of South America. In the Caribbean the subspecies lawrencei occurs on Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada. Small groups feed with rapid, fluttering wingbeats over the canopy and along forest edges, often with other swifts.
Voice
A repeated, bright tsip and a series of three or four slightly downslurred, burry notes, trrreew-trrreew-trrreew.
Recording: Juan Freile — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
10–11 cm, small, with a short, square tail whose feather shafts project as spines. Upperparts glossy blue-black, with a broad, pale grey rump and uppertail coverts that contrast sharply. Throat and underparts are grey, paler than the rump and clearly paler than in the related species; the undertail coverts are darker. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Band-rumped Swift Chaetura spinicaudus, found only on Trinidad, has a narrow whitish band across the rump instead of a broad grey rump, and dark underparts with only a slightly paler throat. Short-tailed Swift Chaetura brachyura is browner, with a very short tail and a pale rump and undertail that form one continuous pale area. Chestnut-collared Swift Streptoprocne rutila is larger and lacks the pale rump. Antillean Palm Swift Tachornis phoenicobia does not occur on the southern islands.
Habitat
Over moist lowland forest, rainforest and montane forest, secondary forest, shaded plantations and open ground near forest, from sea level high into the hills. It hunts small flying insects, often fairly low over the canopy. It nests in hollow trees and in chimneys or similar structures, building a half-cup of twigs glued to the inside wall.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
Resident on Trinidad and Tobago and on Grenada. Not recorded elsewhere in the Caribbean. Outside the region in northern Venezuela (this subspecies) and, as other forms, over much of South America.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
On Trinidad over almost any forest edge and near plantations in the Northern Range, on Tobago in the Main Ridge forest and on Grenada at Grand Etang. On Trinidad the rump and underparts can be compared with Band-rumped and Short-tailed Swifts in the same flock; flying birds are best seen from above or from the side on a slope.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species has a large range and is common in the Caribbean wherever there is forest. Large-scale forest loss could reduce local numbers.
Scientific name
Chaetura cinereiventris | Sclater, 1862
Sclater described the species in 1862 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Chaetura was introduced in 1826 by Stephens. Chaetura is Greek, from khaitē 'hair, bristle' and oura 'tail', after the spiny projecting shafts of the tail feathers. cinereiventris is Latin, from cinereus 'ash-grey' and venter 'belly', after the grey underparts. The specimen the first description was based on came from Bahia, Brazil.