Plume-toed Swiftlet
Collocalia affinis
The iridescent blue back is the best way to distinguish this species from other swiftlets within its range, but this feature is typically only visible when the bird is flying low (often over water) or on the nest. Relatively well-demarcated white belly and dark rump also serve to distinguish this species from Aerodramus swiftlets. Common and well-adapted to human habitation, nesting socially in both caves and manmade structures. Flies in flocks over forests, fields, and water bodies. Gives sharp grating twitters at the nest, but generally quiet.
Identification
The plume-toed swiftlet is 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in) in length with a square tail. 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 hallux, the rear facing toe. This species lacks a pale contrasting rump and has no white spots on the inner webs of the tail feathers.
Taxonomy
The plume-toed swiftlet was described by the English ornithologist Robert Cecil Beavan in 1867 and given current binomial name Collocalia affinis. The type locality is Port Blair in the Andaman Islands. The specific epithet affinis is Latin for "related" or "applied". The plume-toed swiftlet was previously treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet but was promoted to species status based on the results of a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus Collocalia published in 2017.<p>There are five subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Collocalia affinis
- Authority
- Beavan, 1867
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Apodidae
- Genus
- Collocalia
Photos
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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A large, richly colored greenbul, yellow-olive on the back and yellow below with a red eye. Found locally in humid forest at middle elevations, usually in groups, at middle levels of the forest and in the sub-canopy. More colorful than other greenbuls that overlap in range. Similar to Prigogine’s Greenbul, but distinguished by the lack of gray on the face and lack of white on the chin. Named for its exuberant song, several chattering calls that ascend and accelerate into a bubbly, explosive sequence, usually given by multiple birds together.
Green Iora
Aegithina viridissima
A medium-sized canopy-dweller of lowland and foothill forests, often seen with mixed flocks. Male is dark olive-green with boldly black-and-white-striped wings; female is paler, with an olive back and a less contrasting wing pattern. Look for bright yellow “goggles” around dark eyes in both sexes; Common Iora lacks these goggles and has pale eyes, but these can be hard to discern. Song is high, simple, and repetitive: “wit-dee, wit-dee, wit-dee” or “chew-a-wee-chew, chew-a-wee.” Calls vary, but the most common ones are downslurred and rather nasal-sounding.
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