Glossy swiftlet
The glossy swiftlet is a species of swift in the family Apodidae.
It is found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and eastwards to New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands.
Taxonomy
The glossy swiftlet was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Hirundo esculenta. The type locality is Ambon Island, one of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The specific epithet esculenta is from esculentus the Latin word for "edible".There are 17 recognised subspecies:C. e. minuta Stresemann, 1925 – Tanahjampea and Kalao Island C. e. esculenta – central and southern Sulawesi through Banggai [Islands Regency|Banggai] and Sula Islands to central and southern Maluku Islands C. e. manadensis Salomonsen, 1983 – northern Sulawesi to Sangihe Islands and the Talaud IslandsC. e. spilura Gray, GR, 1866 – northern Maluku IslandsC. e. amethystina Salomonsen, 1983 – Waigeo Island C. e. numforensis Salomonsen, 1983 – island of Numfor C. e. nitens Ogilvie-Grant, 1914 – New Guinea, western Papuan islands, the island of Yapen and Karkar Island C. e. misimae Salomonsen, 1983 – Louisiade Archipelago, Trobriand Islands and Woodlark Island, C. e. tametamele Stresemann, 1921 – New Britain, Long, Vitu Islands and Tolokiwa Island C. e. stresemanni Rothschild & Hartert, 1914 – Admiralty IslandsC. e. heinrothi Neumann, 1919 – New Ireland, New Hanover Island and Dyaul Island C. e. spilogaster Salomonsen, 1983 – Tabar Island and the Lihir Group C. e. hypogrammica Salomonsen, 1983 – Nissan Island C. e. lagonoleucos Schodde, Rheindt, & Christidis, 2017 – Buka, Bougainville, Shortland Islands C. e. becki Mayr, 1931 – central and northeastern Solomon IslandsC. e. makirensis Mayr, 1931 – Makira C. e. desiderata Mayr, 1931 – Rennell Island
Seven taxa that are now recognised as species were previously considered as subspecies of the glossy swiftlet. They were raised to species status based on a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus Collocalia published in 2017. The promoted taxa are:
- Plume-toed swiftlet
- Grey-rumped swiftlet
- Ridgetop swiftlet
- Tenggara swiftlet
- Drab swiftlet
- Satin swiftlet
- Christmas Island swiftlet
Description
This bird is shiny black-blue above, including its rump; sometimes looks black and hooded. Chest black; belly to flanks white with fine black speckles at margins. Wing tips are rounded; underwing is black. Tail rounded with shallow notch and tiny white panels. It is so similar to the white-rumped swiftlet that both its upperparts and underparts must be seen to distinguish between the two. It is in length. Its voice is a soft twittering.Behaviour
The glossy swiftlet nests inside caves and buildings, creating a nest on a vertical or under a horizontal surface by secreting a sticky gel and attaching a kind of string-like grass to the surface. It is seen flying over forests, streams, rivers and roads catching insects in flight.Glossy swiftlets have been considered as possible foster parents for restoring the population of the endangered edible-nest swiftlet in the Andaman Islands.