Glossy Swiftlet vs Plume-toed Swiftlet

Glossy Swiftlet

Collocalia esculenta

Tiny6 gForest

This bird is shiny black-blue above, including its rump; sometimes looks black and hooded. Chest black; belly to flanks white with fine black speckles at margins. Wing tips are rounded; underwing is black. Tail rounded with shallow notch and tiny white panels. It is so similar to the white-rumped swiftlet that both its upperparts and underparts must be seen to distinguish between the two. It is 9 to 11.5 cm (3.5 to 4.5 in) in length. Its voice is a soft twittering.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Thomas Brown · CC BY 2.0

Plume-toed Swiftlet

Collocalia affinis

6 gForest

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.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Kalvin Chan · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Glossy Swiftlet and Plume-toed Swiftlet.