Bird Guide

Chestnut-collared Swift vs White-collared Swift

Chestnut-collared Swift (Streptoprocne rutila)

Chestnut-collared Swift

Streptoprocne rutila

Small20 gForest

The chesnut-collared swift is one of the smaller members of genus Streptoprocne. It is 12 to 14 cm (4.7 to 5.5 in) long and weighs about 21 g (0.74 oz). It has a wide slightly notched tail and broad wings. Adult males of the nominate subspecies S. r. rutila have a sooty blackish brown crown, a blackish brown back, slightly paler rump and uppertail coverts, and a sooty blackish brown tail. They have a narrow black patch around the eye and grayish brown cheeks, chin, and throat with some dull rufous feathers mixed in. Voice: One description of the chesnut-collared swift's flight call is "buzzy...like electric crackles or static, occasionally strung into a chatter: bzzzz'tzz'tzz'tzz zz zzzz zzzzz zzzz."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ryan F. Mandelbaum · CC BY 4.0
White-collared Swift (Streptoprocne zonaris)

White-collared Swift

Streptoprocne zonaris

Medium87 gForest

The white-collared swift is the largest species of swift in its range except in northwestern Mexico, where it and the slightly larger white-naped swift (S. semicollaris) are sympatric. The white-collared swift is 20 to 21.5 cm (7.9 to 8.5 in) long and weighs 90 to 125 g (3.2 to 4.4 oz). It has a wingspan of 45 to 55 cm (18 to 22 in). It has a very slightly forked tail and the sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a white collar that circles the neck and is broadest on the breast.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the White-collared Swift
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call, chase call · Pichincha: La Buena Esperanza, Tumbaco, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: André Ambrozio · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Chestnut-collared Swift and White-collared Swift.