Band-rumped Swift

Band-rumped Swift
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Apodidae
Genus:	Chaetura
Species:	C. spinicaudus
Binomial name
Chaetura spinicaudus (Temminck, 1839)

The Band-rumped Swift, Chaetura spinicaudus, is a small swift.

This species breeds in forested areas from Costa Rica south and east to Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guianas, Trinidad and northeast Brazil. The nest is a half saucer of twigs glued to the inside of a tree hole or similar shaded location with saliva.

Band-rumped Swift is a speedy slender bird, 11.5 cm long and weighing 15 g. The upperparts are blackish with a whitish band across the rump, and the underparts are dark brown with a paler throat. It has a short tail.

Band-rumped Swift feeds in flight on flying insects. It is often low over roads or clearings in the morning or evening, rising high above the forest, often with other swifts, in the middle of the day.

Band-rumped Swift has a chittering csinck call.

References

• Swifts by Chantler and Driessens, ISBN 1-873403-83-6
• ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2. 
• Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.