Includes: Eastern Palm Swift
- Cypsiurus balasiensis
Identification
13 cm (5 in). A small swift with extremely long and narrow wings and tail.
- body brownish, darkest on crown, rump slightly paler
- wings thin and very long
- tail-streamers long and narrow (often held folded)
Juveniles are paler and have slightly shorter tail-streamers.
Distribution
Southeast Asia: Indian Subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Common and locally abundant. Not globally threatened.
Taxonomy
Forms a superspecies with the African Palm Swift Cypsiurus parvus and was also formerly lumped with this species.
Subspecies bartelsorum. infumatus and pallidor may be elevated as "Eastern Palm Swift", C. infumatus given apparent distinctness in sympatry with balasiensis in North East India (references [2])
Subspecies
Clements recognises the following subspecies [1]:
- C.b. balasiensis: the Indian Subcontinent west of Assam
- C.b. infumatus: "Eastern Palm Swift". Assam to Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. This is perhaps the form on Sulawesi
- C.b. bartelsorum: "Eastern Palm Swift". Java and Bali
- C.b. pallidor: "Eastern Palm Swift". The Philippines
Habitat
Occurs wherever fan and betelnut palms are present. Cities, towns, cultivated area, rarer in forested areas. Up to 1500m.
Behaviour
Movements
A resident species.
Diet
Feeds on insects, eg. flying ants, termites and beetles. Highly gregarious, often found in foraging in mixed flocks with Little Swifts.
Breeding
Breeds all year round with local peaks. Nest built in palm fronds, sometimes in thatched roofs, usually small groups breeding together. The nest is a tiny half-cup, attached on three sides to palm leaves. The two eggs are not glued to nest as in African Palm Swift.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Eaton, JA, B van Balen, NW Brickle, FE Rheindt 2021. Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago (Greater Sundas and Wallacea), Second Edition. Lynx Editions. ISBN978-84-16728-44-2
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Asian Palm Swift. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Asian_Palm_Swift
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
