| Chaetura | |
|---|---|
| |
| Chimney swift Chaetura pelagica | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Strisores |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Apodidae |
| Subfamily: | Apodinae |
| Genus: | Chaetura Stephens, 1826 |
| Species | |
|
11 living, see text | |
Chaetura is a genus of needletail swifts found in the Americas. Although they resemble swallows, the two are not at all closely related; this is instead a result of convergent evolution. Some members of Chaetura are long-distance migrants, while others are year-round residents.
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus Chaetura was introduced in 1826 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens who listed several species in the genus but did not specify a type.[1] In 1829 the English zoologist William Swainson selected the type as Chaetura pelasgia Stevens (sic). This is a junior synonym of Hirundo pelagica Linnaeus the chimney swift.[2][3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek χαιτη/khaitē meaning "long flowing hair" with ουρα/oura meaning "tail".[4]
Species
[edit]The genus contains 11 species:[5]
- Grey-rumped swift, Chaetura cinereiventris – widespread in South America
- Band-rumped swift, Chaetura spinicaudus – Panama to central Brazil
- Lesser Antillean swift, Chaetura martinica – Lesser Antilles
- Costa Rican swift, Chaetura fumosa – Costa Rica, Panama and north Colombia
- Pale-rumped swift, Chaetura egregia – west Amazonia
- Chimney swift, Chaetura pelagica – breeds in central south, southeast Canada and central, east USA; winters west South America
- Vaux's swift, Chaetura vauxi – west Canada to north South America
- Chapman's swift, Chaetura chapmani – Panama to northeast Brazil and west Amazonia
- Ashy-tailed swift, Chaetura andrei – east Venezuela
- Sick's swift, Chaetura meridionalis – breeds south Brazil to east Bolivia, Paraguay and north Argentina; winters north South America and Panama
- Short-tailed swift, Chaetura brachyura – Panama through Amazonia
A fossil species, Chaetura baconica, was described from Late Miocene deposits of Hungary.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Stephens, James Francis (1826). Shaw, George (ed.). General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History. Vol. 13, Part 2. London: Kearsley et al. p. 76.
- ^ Swainson, William (1831). Zoological illustrations, or, Original figures and descriptions of new, rare, or interesting animals. Series 2. Vol. 1. London: Baldwin, Cradock. Plate 42 text.
- ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 235.
- ^ Jobling, James A. "Chaetura". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
- ^ Boev, Zlatozar (2000). "The Presence of Apus baranensis Janossy, 1977, (Aves: Apodidae) in the Late Pliocene of Bulgaria". Acta Zoologica Bulgarica. 52 (2): 43–52.
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