Dark-rumped Swift
Apus acuticauda
A rare and highly range-restricted dark swift lacking any white on the lower back. Underparts can have a white-fringed appearance, but may sometimes appear uniform due to wear. Note contrast between belly and solid black undertail. Combination of namesake dark rump and dark face distinguishes this species from other similar “fork-tailed swifts.” Breeds in damp forested hills with waterfalls, steep cliffs, and ledges; forages over other habitats as well. Gives high, thin calls, as well as chittery trilling screams.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Apus acuticauda
- Authority
- (Jerdon, 1864)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Apodidae
- Genus
- Apus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Moustached Woodcreeper
Xiphocolaptes falcirostris
Large, heavy-billed woodcreeper. Has rather unmarked plumage, but note the buffy eyebrow, moustachial stripe, and throat. No other woodcreeper within its range has such a large, strong bill. Inhabits deciduous dry forests and wooded caatinga. Song is a whining series of unmelodic notes, such as “nk-wiirh, week! weeer, weeer, weeur, weuur.”
Common Paradise-Kingfisher
Tanysiptera galatea
A long-tailed kingfisher of lowland forests. White underparts and rump, dark blue upperparts with pale blue shoulder and crown. Long white tail with 2 extended central tail feathers ending in spatula tips. Sits still for long periods whilst slowly pumping its tail. Very similar to Little Paradise-Kingfisher, but Common Paradise-Kingfisher is larger, with a paler crown, white rather than blue outer tail feathers and a heavier bill. The safest way to separate, however is by vocalization. Heard more often than seen. Song, a rapidly accelerating and slightly rising series of dry notes.
Striolated Tit-Spinetail
Leptasthenura striolata
Distinctive, diminutive species with a very long spiky tail and a heavily streaked body. Note the rusty crown and narrow white eyebrow. Occurs at forest edges, in Araucaria forest, and in tall second growth, where it forages acrobatically by gleaning. Often accompanies mixed-species flocks.
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