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Plume-toed swiftlet
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<h2 id="taxonomy">Taxonomy</h2> <p>The plume-toed swiftlet was <a href="/facts/Species_description/JyFpxSvJ">described</a> by the English ornithologist <a href="/facts/Robert_Cecil_Beavan/X3aBavHo">Robert Cecil Beavan</a> in 1867 and given current <a href="/facts/Binomial_name/jgBqAhPv">binomial name</a> <i>Collocalia affinis</i>. The <a href="/facts/Type_locality_(biology)/mTM1beKX">type locality</a> is <a href="/facts/Port_Blair/BUAC3oce">Port Blair</a> in the <a href="/facts/Andaman_Islands/w2CR0mhH">Andaman Islands</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> The <a href="/facts/Specific_name_(zoology)/RuH34bxb">specific epithet</a> <i>affinis</i> is Latin for "related" or "applied".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> The plume-toed swiftlet was previously treated as a subspecies of the <a href="/facts/Glossy_swiftlet/DXsWuIVt">glossy swiftlet</a> but was promoted to species status based on the results of a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus <i><a href="/facts/Collocalia/wQCq9MLh">Collocalia</a></i> published in 2017.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>There are five subspecies:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <ul><li><i>C. a. affinis</i> <a href="/facts/Robert_Cecil_Beavan/X3aBavHo">Beavan</a>, 1867 – <a href="/facts/Andaman_and_Nicobar_Islands/jSM58Eyr">Andaman and Nicobar Islands</a> in the eastern <a href="/facts/Indian_Ocean/Kv0crwKG">Indian Ocean</a></li> <li><i>C. a. elachyptera</i> <a href="/facts/Harry_C._Oberholser/F1ux2SEW">Oberholser</a>, 1906 – <a href="/facts/Mergui_Archipelago/lam25bUs">Mergui Archipelago</a> off the west coast of southern <a href="/facts/Myanmar/zcqQH2oE">Myanmar</a></li> <li><i>C. a. vanderbilti</i> <a href="/facts/Rodolphe_Meyer_de_Schauensee/Q0LsV0k7">Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee</a> & <a href="/facts/Sidney_Dillon_Ripley/TUXvHLxo">Ripley</a>, 1940 – <a href="/facts/Nias_Island/ygdN6qUa">Nias Island</a> off the west coast of <a href="/facts/Sumatra/Fo192kJb">Sumatra</a></li> <li><i>C. a. oberholseri</i> <a href="/facts/Erwin_Stresemann/Rf1noJlU">Stresemann</a>, 1912 – <a href="/facts/Batu_Islands/jj2q3baN">Batu</a> and <a href="/facts/Mentawai_Islands/obGxxWaA">Mentawai Islands</a> off the west coast of Sumatra</li> <li><i>C. a. cyanoptila</i> Oberholser, 1906 – <a href="/facts/Malay_Peninsula/BrBger2u">Malay Peninsula</a>, Sumatra, <a href="/facts/Natuna_Islands/8G82nMx3">Natuna Islands</a> and lowland <a href="/facts/Borneo/1aIGfyvV">Borneo</a></li></ul> <h2 id="description">Description</h2> <p>The plume-toed swiftlet is 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in) in length with a square tail.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> The back and upper surface of the wings are uniformly dark greenish-blue with a moderate gloss. The throat and upper breast are dark grey merging into large greyish chevrons over the lower breast and flanks, usually becoming white over the belly. There is a tuft of small feathers on the <a href="/facts/Glossary_of_bird_terms/6za1f5Im">hallux</a>, the rear facing toe. This species lacks a pale contrasting rump and has no white spots on the inner webs of the tail feathers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Beavan, Robert Cecil (1867). "The avifauna of the Andaman Islands". Ibis. Series 2. 3: 314–334 [318]. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1867.tb06434.x. <a href="/wiki/Robert_Cecil_Beavan" target="_blank">/wiki/Robert_Cecil_Beavan</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 229. <a href="/wiki/James_L._Peters" target="_blank">/wiki/James_L._Peters</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4. <a href="978-1-4081-2501-4" target="_blank">978-1-4081-2501-4</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Rheindt, Frank E.; Christidis, Les; Norman, Janette A.; Eaton, James A.; Sadanandan, Keren R.; Schodde, Richard (2017). "Speciation in Indo-Pacific swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae): integrating molecular and phenotypic data for a new provisional taxonomy of the Collocalia esculenta complex". Zootaxa. 4250 (5): 401–433. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4250.5.1. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 August 2017. <a href="/wiki/Frank_Gill_(ornithologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Frank_Gill_(ornithologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 August 2017. <a href="/wiki/Frank_Gill_(ornithologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Frank_Gill_(ornithologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Chantler, P.; Boesman, P. (2017). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Glossy Swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 23 August 2017. <a href="http://www.hbw.com/node/55264" target="_blank">http://www.hbw.com/node/55264</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Rheindt, Frank E.; Christidis, Les; Norman, Janette A.; Eaton, James A.; Sadanandan, Keren R.; Schodde, Richard (2017). "Speciation in Indo-Pacific swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae): integrating molecular and phenotypic data for a new provisional taxonomy of the Collocalia esculenta complex". Zootaxa. 4250 (5): 401–433. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4250.5.1. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>