









About the Short-tailed Swift
The short-tailed swift is a bird in the Apodidae, or swift family.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
The short-tailed swift is about 10.5 cm long, and weighs 20 g. It has long narrow wings, a robust body and a short tail. The sexes are similar. It is mainly black with a pale rump and tail. It can be distinguished from related species in its range, such as the band-rumped swift (C. spinicauda) or the gray-rumped swift (C. cinereiventris) by the lack of contrast between the rump and the tail, the latter being much darker in the other species.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the Short-tailed Swift sounds like
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in January · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Sick's SwiftChaetura meridionalisThe upperparts dark smoky brown.
Grey-rumped SwiftChaetura cinereiventrisThe grey-rumped swift is about 10.5 cm (4.1 in) long and weighs about 17 g (0.60 oz).
Band-rumped SwiftChaetura spinicaudusThe band-rumped swift is 10.5 to 12.6 cm (4.1 to 5.0 in) long and weighs 13.8 to 18.5 g (0.49 to 0.65 oz).
Learn the Short-tailed Swift for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.