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Common Name : Himalayan Swiftlet
Scientific Name : Aerodramus brevirostris
Order : Apodiformes Family : Apodidae (Swifts)
Number of SubSpecies : 2

Taxon Category	Sub Species / Race	Range
subspecies	Aerodramus brevirostris brevirostris	Himalayas to Nepal, ne India, Myanmar and Thailand
subspecies	Aerodramus brevirostris innominatus	E-central China to n Vietnam; winters to Malay Peninsula

3rd Edition, 2003. Revised and Corrected per Corrigenda to December 31, 2006

Common Name : Himalayan Swiftlet
Scientific Name : Aerodramus brevirostris
SubFamily : Apodinae

Number of SubSpecies : 4

Sub Species / Race
Aerodramus brevirostris brevirostris
Aerodramus brevirostris innominatus
Aerodramus brevirostris rogersi
Aerodramus brevirostris vulcanorum

IOC Common Name : Himalayan Swiftlet
IOC Scientific Name : Aerodramus brevirostris

Distribution :
Region : OR Range : ne India to sc China & Malay Peninsula
Order : APODIFORMES Family : Apodidae
Category : Swifts

SYNOPIS NO : 683- 684

Scientific Name: Collocalia brevirostris
Common Name: Himalayan Swiftlet

Common Name : Himalayan Swiftlet
Scientific Name : Collocalia brevirostris ((Horsfield, 1840))
Birdlife Synonym :

BirdLife Redlist Status Year 2010: LC
BirdLife Species FactSheet for Himalayan Swiftlet ( Collocalia brevirostris )

Taxonomy Treatment : R

IUCN Common Name (Eng) : Himalayan Swiftlet
Scientific Name : Collocalia brevirostris (Horsfield, 1840)
IUCN Redlist Species FactSheet for Himalayan Swiftlet ( Collocalia brevirostris )

Species : brevirostris
Genus : Collocalia
Family : Apodidae Order : Apodiformes

IUCN RedList Status : LC

IUCN RedList Criteria Version : 3.1
IUCN RedList Year Assessed : 2008
IUCN RedList Petitioned : N

Family : APODIDAE

Scientific Name : Collocalia brevirostris
Common Name : Himalayan Swiftlet

IOC Checklist Difference : Aerodramus brevirostris
Birdlife Checklist Difference : Collocalia rogersi Indochinese Swiftlet

OBC Checklist Justification : Deignan (1955) describedrogersi as a subspecies ofbrevirostris, despite noting that the tarsi were typically unfeathered and apparently overlooking the lack of white barbs at the base of the back feathers. Medway (1962)noted that winter-caught Malayan spe
Other Justification : Wells (1999) under Group Relations for Himalayan SwiftletAerodramus brevirostris noted 'Uncertain. Outstanding issues include the placing of short-winged continental populations relative to species such as A. unicolor (Indian Swiftlet). A. (b.) rogersi Deignan 1955, the so-called Indochinese Swiftlet described from Kanchanaburi province, SW Thailand, and identified in the Peninsula but of unknown status (Deignan 1963), is one of these. Said to be pale-rumped like northwestern nominate brevirostris, but classical Himalayan Swiftlet features - feathered tarsus and white basal barbs on back-feathers - are not among its listed characters. Wing-length variation (116-128 mm) is enough to suggest it might even include more than one taxon (cf. Medway 1962, 1966a).' Dickinson (2003), referring to rogersi, described it as 'An enigmatic and unresolved form (or forms) see Wells (1999: 455).'

 

Str. F. i. p. 294; id., Str. F. ii. p. 160; Hume and Dav., Str. F. vi. p. 49; Hume, Str. F. viii. , p. 85 ; Oates, B. Br. Burmah, ii. p. 7. Collocalia linchi, Horsf, apud. Bl. B. Burm. p. 85. Collocalia maxima, Hume, Str. F. iv. p. 223. -

Hume's Swiftlet.
 

Adult. - 'Forehead, crown, occiput and nape smoky black; a black line surrounding the eye; a white spot in front of the eye; cheeks, ear coverts, throat, abdomen, vent and under tail coverts dusky grey brown, the feathers of the under surface dark shafted ; wing lining and axillaries dark brown ; back and upper tail coverts smoky black; rump pale brown or greyish white; wings and tail like the back; the latter glossed bluish at the tips. Bill and legs black ; the legs feathered to the toes.

Length. - 5 to 5.5 inches ; tail 2 to 2.3 ; wing 5.2 to 5.5 ; tarsus 0.4 to 5 ; bill from gape 0.6.

Hab. - British Burmah and the Andaman Islands. Mr. Davison met with it in Tenasserim. According to him " it hawks about along the coast, up estuaries, along the course of creeks and rivers, over paddy-fields, and some­times a little way inland. During the day they usually keep high up and out of shot, but descend lower in the evening." Nothing is known of their nidification.

 

The Himalayan Swiftlet.

Hirundo brevirostris, McClelland, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 155. Collocalia nidifica, Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 182, pt.; Brooks, S. F. iii, p. 232. Collocalia fuciphaga, apud Blanf. J. A. S. B. xii, pt. 2, p. 44; nec Thunb. Collocalia brevirostris, Hume, S. F. iii, p. 232; ix, p. 290; xi, p. 32; Hartert (C. fuciphagae subsp.), Cat. B. M. xvi, p. 501. Collocalia unicolor, apud Scully, S. F. viii, p. 235 ; nec Jerdon.

Coloration. Almost identical with that of C. fuciphaga, but the upper parts are a little darker in general, whilst the rump is slightly but distinctly paler than the back. Tarsi always feathered in front.

Bill black; irides dark brown; tarsi and toes brownish fleshy (Hume).

Length about 5.4 ; tail 2.2 ; wing 5; tarsus .4. The outer tail-feathers exceed the middle pair by .25 to .4 inch.

Distribution. Throughout the Himalayas as far west as Dalhousie, up to considerable elevations (I have seen this species at 12,000 feet in Sikhim), also in Assam and Manipur.

Habits, &c. Those of the genus. Nidification unknown.

 

Hume's Swiftlet.

Collocalia innominata, Hume, S. F. i, p. 294 (1873); ii, pp. 160, 493 ; ix, p. 112; id. Cat. no. 103 ter; Hume & Dav. S. F. vi, p. 49; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 7; Hartert, Cat. B. M. xvi, p. 503. Collocalia maxima, Hume, S. F. iv, p. 223 (descr. nulla).

Coloration. Upper parts blackish brown; crown and nape darker, sometimes forming a distinct cap; wings and tail black with purplish or greenish gloss; rump pale greyish brown, with dark shafts ; lower parts greyish brown, the feathers dark-shafted.

Tarsi feathered in front throughout; bill and feet black ; legs blackish brown (Davison).

Length 5.25; tail 2.2; wing 5.3 ; tarsus .46.

Distribution. Southern Tenasserim and the Andaman Islands. A skin has also been obtained at Selangore in the Malay Peninsula. The nidification is unknown.

 

The Himalayas Swiftlet.

Hirundo brevirostris McClell., P. Z. S.; 1839, p. 155 (Assam). Collocalia brevirostris. Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 177.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Very similar to the preceding bird but rather darker, with dark lores and the rump a shade paler than the back.

Colours of soft parts. Iris brown; bill black; legs and feet brownish fleshy.

Measurements. Pork of tail about 6 to 12 mm. deep; wing 120 to 134 mm.; tail 55 to 58 mm.; tarsus about 8 mm.; culmen about 4 mm.

Distribution. Himalayas from Naini Tal and Dalhousie to Eastern Assam, Cachar and Manipur. Forrest obtained it at 9,000 feet on the Mekong-Salwin divide and it probably extends in suitable places through the North Chin and Kachin Hills.

Nidification. I found this little Swift breeding in North Cachar in April but most of their breeding places were quite unapproachable. Once some Nagas found it breeding in a hollow cave formed by the buttresses of an enormous fallen Cotton-tree and once we took nests and eggs from a small cave within about thirty feet of the nest of an Aegypius monachus we had climbed down to. The colony in the Cotton-tree numbered about twenty pairs, that in the cave about a dozen. All but three nests had young and most eggs must be laid in early March ; eggs and young numbered two in every case. The nests were very shallow saucers made almost entirely of feathers glued together with saliva and almost solely of this material round the edges and where fastened to the walls of the cave. The eaves seemed to have been used for many years, the door and slope of the cliffs below being densely covered with the birds' droppings. The six eggs procured average 21.8x14.5 mm.

Habits. This bird seems to be rare everywhere. The first colony alluded to above was on a cliff at some 2,500 feet elevation but except for this I have only seen them at 4,000 feet upwards. Blanford noticed it at 12,000 feet in Sikkim and Stevens records it as being seen at various elevations between 3,600 and 12,000 feet. The latter notes seeing them in February, May, August and September, so that though they wander greatly and are very erratic in their movements they are evidently non-migratory. The only note I have heard them utter was a low cheep, very like that of a bat. The few I have seen were very tame confiding little birds and we had no difficulty in catching them in butterfly-nets. Those we examined seemed to have eaten nothing but flies, in appearance just like common house-flies.

 

Hume's Swiftlet.

Collocalia innominata Hume, Str. Feath., i, p. 294 (1873) (Button Is., Andamans); Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 177.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Upper plumage blackish-brown, the crown and nape still blacker and sometimes forming a distinct cap; rump paler and more grey, occasionally forming a broad grey band and at other times hardly discernible; the feathers of this part dark-shafted ; lower plumage greyish-brown, the feathers with darker shaft-stripes.

Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown; bill black; legs and feet brownish-black. Tarsi feathered throughout in front.

Measurements. Tail slightly forked, from 3 to 7 mm,; wing 125 to 132 mm.; tail 52 to 55 mm.; tarsus about 8 mm.; culmen about 4 mm.

Distribution. Andamans; South Tenasserim, Selangor and South-West Siam.

Nidification. Unknown.

Habits. Those of the genus.

 

Hirundo brevirostris Horsf., P. Z. S., 1839, p. 155, Mch. 1840: Assam.

 

Collocalia innominata Hume, Str. Feath., vol. i, p. 294, Feb. 1873: Andamans.

Collocalia maxima Hume, Str. Feath.. vol. iv, p. 223, nom. nud.