Bates's Swift (Apus batesi)
About the Bates's Swift
Bates's swift (Apus batesi) is a species of small swift in the family Apodidae which is found in western Africa. Bates's swift is a small, slender swift with a deeply forked tail which is often held closed to form a point. It has a glossy black plumage with an indistinct pale patch on the throat. It is normally silent but makes a high-pitched trill near the nest. They are 14 cm in length. Bates's swift is found from Liberia and Guinea then patchily eastwards to Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, south to Gabon and the northern Congo. Its presence in Sierra Leone is unconfirmed, as are reports from the eastern democratic Republic of Congo. Bates's swift is a rainforest species and is found in areas close to cliffs and crags.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 2 recordings for this species: 2 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Ghana in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Common SwiftApus apusrecording
- Pallid SwiftApus pallidusrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.