Antillean Palm Swift

Overview

The Antillean palm swift is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae, found on the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola. It is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with a stable population and no immediate threats identified.

Identification

• Size: 9 to 11 cm long and weighs about 9 to 11 g
• Plumage: Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark sooty brown crown and nape, a sooty black to black back, and mostly dull white underparts with dark sooty brown flanks.
• Bill: Not explicitly described in the reference material.
• Song: Flight call described as "noisy...an almost constant, weak, twittering, tooee-tooee".

Habitat

The Antillean palm swift is found on dry grassy areas with patches of palms, scrublands, forest, and suburban or urban areas across the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola. It ranges in elevation up to 1,700 m on Hispaniola and 1,200 m on Jamaica.

Diet

The Antillean palm swift is an aerial insectivore that forages low to the ground, usually over vegetation, and usually in small flocks of its species. Details of its diet are lacking.

Did you know?

The Antillean palm swift makes a hanging pouch nest of plant fibers and feathers glued together with saliva and hung on the outside of a dead drooping palm frond. It nests in small colonies, and the planting of decorative palms provides nest sites for these birds, making them adaptable to human habitations.