Includes: Germain's Swiftlet;
Alternative names: White-nest Swiftlet; Hume's Swiftlet; Andaman Grey-rumped Swiftlet; Brown-rumped Swiftlet; Thunberg's Swiftlet
- Aerodramus fuciphagus
Identification
With 12cm a medium-sized Swiftlet, very similar to Black-nest Swiftlet, Mossy-nest Swiftlet and other Swiftlets in its range
- Glossy black-brown upperparts with slightly greyer rump (not in all subspecies)
- Brownish grey underparts, palest on throat
- Deeply forked tail
- Lightly feathered to naked tarsi
Distribution
Found in South-east Asia. From the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands to Sumatra, Java, Bali, the Lesser Sundas to Timor and Borneo, as well as from there north to the Malay Peninsula and southern Philippines.
Still common in most of its range but population in heavy decline due to over harvesting of nests.
Taxonomy
Like other Aerodramus Swiftles this species is often placed in genus Collocalia.
Many other Swiftlet species or subspecies of them have been considered conspecific with this bird, eg. Indian Swiftlet. The exact relationships are still poorly understood.
Subspecies
Clements recognises the following subspecies [1]:
- A. g. germani: Coasts of the Malay Peninsula, north Borneo and southern Philippines
- A. g. amechanus: Anambas Islands
- A.f. fuciphagus (Thunberg's Swiftlet) from Java to the Lesser Sundas
- A.f. micans on Sumba, Sawu and Timor
- A.f. perplexus on Maratua Archipelago off Borneo
- A.f. vestitus (Brown-rumped Swiftlet) on Sumatra and Borneo
- A.f. dammermani on Flores
- A.f. inexpectatus on Andamans and Nicobars (India)
The first two subspecies have been recognized as its own species, German's Swiftlet, but current consensus includes them here.
Habitat
Recorded over a wide variety of habitats, forests, clearings, coast, lowlands, mountains and also out at sea.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects, taken in flight. Gregarious and often foraging in big flocks together with other Swiftlets and Swallows.
Breeding
Breeding season differs through range, but mainly from September to April. Nests in caves in big colonies, often together with Mossy-nest Swiftlet, Glossy Swiftlet and Black-nest Swiftlet. Also frequently recorded breeding in villages and towns. The nest is made purely out of saliva and looks whitish. Capable of echo-location. Lays two eggs. The nests are collected in some caves for the famous Chinese Swallow nest soup.
Resident. Some island population may wander to bigger islands.
References
- 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, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Edible-nest Swiftlet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Edible-nest_Swiftlet
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
