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Caroline Islands Swiftlet - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Mark Harper
Weno, Micronesia, 9 April, 2024

Alternative names: Caroline Swiftlet; Micronesian Swiftlet; Island Swiftlet

Aerodramus inquietus

Identification

With 11cm a small Swiftlet of some islands in the South Pacific.

  • Uniformly dark grey-brown underparts
  • Black-brown upperparts
  • Shallowly forked tail

Distribution

Found in Micronesia in the South Pacific on Chuuk, Kosrae and Pohnpei.
Very common to abundant in its range.

Taxonomy

Like other Aerodramus Swiftles this species is often placed in Collocalia.
Formerly considered conspecific with Mossy-nest Swiftlet, Palau Swiftlet, Uniform Swiftlet and Guam Swiftlet. The five species form now a superspecies.

Subspecies

Three subspecies recognized[1]:

Habitat

Recorded over forest and open habitat.

Behaviour

Diet

Nothing known about food and feeding, probably similar to other Swiftlets.

Breeding

Nests in caves, building a nest with vegetable matter and hold together with lots of saliva. Probably capable of echolocation but uncertain. Lays one egg (rukensis two).

Movements

Resident.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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