Short-tailed Swift (Chaetura brachyura)
About the Short-tailed Swift
The short-tailed swift (Chaetura brachyura) is a bird in the Apodidae, or swift family. The species was first formally described as Acanthylis brachyura in 1846 by the Scottish naturalist Sir William Jardine, based on the observations of Mr. Kirk, a resident of Tobago. The genus name Chaetura is derived from the Greek khaite (hair) and oura (tail). The specific epithet brachyura is Greek for brakhus (short) and ouros (tailed). Four subspecies are recognized: C. b. praevelox, found in Grenada, Saint Vincent, and Tobago C. b. brachyura, the nominate subspecies, found from Panama to Trinidad and the Guianas, south to west-central Brazil and northern Bolivia C. b. ocypetes, found in southwest Ecuador and northwest Peru C. b. cinereocauda, found in north-central Brazil
A real field recording of the Short-tailed Swift. Press play and focus on the rhythm and pitch of each phrase.
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Our streaming copies are mirrored from the original xeno-canto file and transcoded to 96 kbps mono — a modification, so we note it here; the licence for each recording is named in its credit below.
2 recordings on this page · licensed CC BY-SA ×2 · mirrored on this server, free for commercial reuse · recorded in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and elsewhere · xeno-canto lists 72 recordings for this species in total.
Similar species
- Band-rumped SwiftChaetura spinicaudusprofile
- Chapman's SwiftChaetura chapmaniprofile
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagicarecording
- Costa Rican SwiftChaetura fumosaprofile
- Grey-rumped SwiftChaetura cinereiventrisrecording
- Lesser Antillean SwiftChaetura martinicaprofile
Species grouped by shared genus, family and range.