Chaetura
Chaetura is a genus of needletail swifts found in the Americas. Although they resemble swallows, the two are not at all closely related; this is instead a result of convergent evolution. Some members of Chaetura are long-distance migrants, while others are year-round residents.
| Chaetura | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chimney swift Chaetura pelagica | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Apodidae |
| Subfamily: | Apodinae |
| Genus: | Chaetura Stephens, 1826 |
| Species | |
|
11 living, see text | |
The genus name is derived from the Greek khaite, for long flowing hair, and oura, for tail, referring to the stiff feathers projecting from the end of the tail.[1]
- Grey-rumped swift – Chaetura cinereiventris
- Band-rumped swift – Chaetura spinicauda
- Lesser Antillean swift – Chaetura martinica
- Costa Rican swift – Chaetura fumosa
- Pale-rumped swift – Chaetura egregia
- Chimney swift – Chaetura pelagica
- Vaux's swift – Chaetura vauxi
- Chapman's swift – Chaetura chapmani
- Ashy-tailed swift – Chaetura andrei
- Sick's swift – Chaetura meridionalis
- Short-tailed swift – Chaetura brachyura
A fossil species, Chaetura baconica, was described from Late Miocene deposits of Hungary.[2]
References
- Jobling, James A. (1991). A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0-19-854634-3.
- Boev, Zlatozar (2000). "The Presence of Apus baranensis Janossy, 1977, (Aves: Apodidae) in the Late Pliocene of Bulgaria". Acta Zoologica Bulgarica. 52 (2): 43–52.
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