Chaetura Explained

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.

The genus name is derived from the Greek khaite, for long flowing hair, and oura, for tail, referring to the stiff feathers projecting from the end of the tail.^[1]

• Grey-rumped swift – Chaetura cinereiventris
• Band-rumped swift – Chaetura spinicaudus
• Lesser Antillean swift – Chaetura martinica
• Costa Rican swift – Chaetura fumosa
• Pale-rumped swift – Chaetura egregia
• Chimney swift – Chaetura pelagica
• Vaux's swift – Chaetura vauxi
• Chapman's swift – Chaetura chapmani
• Ashy-tailed swift – Chaetura andrei
• Sick's swift – Chaetura meridionalis
• Short-tailed swift – Chaetura brachyura

A fossil species, Chaetura baconica, was described from Late Miocene deposits of Hungary.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Book: Jobling, James A. . A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . . 1991 . Oxford . 48 . 0-19-854634-3 .
2. 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.