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Fork-tailed Palm Swift

Tachornis squamata

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesWoodlandDomed nestTiny · 11 g
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 1
Photo: Miguel A. Paixão · CC BY 4.0
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 2
Photo: Conrado Pável de Oliveira · CC BY 4.0
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 3
Photo: Conrado Pável de Oliveira · CC BY 4.0
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 4
Photo: avocat · CC BY 4.0
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 5
Photo: Thomaz de Carvalho Callado · CC BY 4.0
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 6
Photo: Vincent A. Vos · CC BY 4.0
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 7
Photo: rodrigo_lazaro · CC BY 4.0
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 8
Photo: Julien Renoult · CC BY 4.0
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 9
Photo: José Reynaldo da Fonseca · CC BY 2.5
Fork-tailed Palm Swift (Tachornis squamata), photo 10
Photo: no rights reserved · CC0

ID tip

The fork-tailed palm swift is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long and weighs 9 to 13.6 g (0.32 to 0.48 oz). It has long narrow wings and a long deeply forked tail. The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies T. s. squamata have blackish brown upperparts with a slight greenish gloss and pale gray edges on the feathers; the rump is slightly paler. Their cheeks are grayish brown and the throat very pale brownish white with dusky mottling. The rest of their underparts are pale with light brown mottling that is sparsest in the center of the belly. Voice: The fork-tailed palm swift's flight calls have been described as "a trilling trrrrreeeee", "a buzzy d-z-z-z-z-z", and "a thin buzz, bzzzzzzz bzz bzzzzzz".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Fork-tailed Palm Swift

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Fork-tailed Palm Swift

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 10 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Brazil Peru Colombia Ecuador Venezuela Trinidad & Tobago Guyana Suriname French Guiana Bolivia

Recorded as a rare visitor in Argentina.

About the Fork-tailed Palm Swift

The fork-tailed palm swift or Neotropical palm swift is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found across most of northern South America and on Trinidad and Tobago.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Antillean Palm Swift (Tachornis phoenicobia) Antillean Palm SwiftTachornis phoenicobiaThe Antillean palm swift is 9 to 11 cm (3.5 to 4.3 in) long and weighs about 9 to 11 g (0.32 to 0.39 oz). Pygmy Palm SwiftTachornis furcataThe pygmy palm swift is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long.

Side by side: Antillean Palm Swift vs Fork-tailed Palm Swift

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