Chaetura cinereiventris P.L.Sclater, 1862

Size and Weight

The grey-rumped swift (Chaetura cinereiventris P.L.Sclater, 1862) is approximately 10.5 cm (4.1 in) long and weighs around 17 g (0.60 oz).

Body and Wing Structure

It has a protruding head, a short square tail, wings that bulge in the middle and curve slightly to a hooked end.

Sexual Dimorphism

Males and females have identical plumage.

Nominate Subspecies Adult Upperparts

Adults of the nominate subspecies have mostly glossy black upperparts, with a wide gray rump and uppertail coverts.

Nominate Subspecies Adult Underparts

Their underparts are lighter gray than the rump, and darker on the undertail coverts.

Juvenile Plumage

Juveniles match adult plumage almost exactly, except that most of their wing feathers have pale fringes.

Subspecies C. c. phaeopygos Trait

Subspecies C. c. phaeopygos differs from the nominate subspecies only by having pale undertail coverts.

Subspecies C. c. lawrencei Trait

C. c. lawrencei has slightly darker underparts than the nominate, with black undertail coverts that create a contrast with its belly.

Subspecies C. c. schistacea Trait

C. c. schistacea has darker upperparts than the nominate, with a steely blue gloss, and also deep gray underparts.

Subspecies C. c. guianensis Trait

C. c. guianensis is nearly identical to the nominate subspecies.

Subspecies C. c. occidentalis and C. c. sclateri Traits

C. c. occidentalis and C. c. sclateri have the darkest rumps out of all recognized subspecies, along with blackish gray bellies.

Subspecies Distribution Overview

Each subspecies of the grey-rumped swift has a distinct distribution.

C. c. phaeopygos Distribution

C. c. phaeopygos is found in northeastern Honduras, and from eastern Nicaragua through Costa Rica into northwestern Panama.

C. c. lawrencei Distribution

C. c. lawrencei occurs in northern Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, and Grenada.

C. c. schistacea Distribution

C. c. schistacea inhabits the Andes from Mérida state in western Venezuela to Boyacá Department in eastern Colombia.

C. c. guianensis Distribution

C. c. guianensis lives in eastern Venezuela and western Guyana.

C. c. occidentalis Distribution

C. c. occidentalis ranges from western Colombia through western Ecuador into Tumbes department in extreme northwestern Peru.

C. c. sclateri Distribution

C. c. sclateri is found in scattered areas across southern Venezuela, southern Colombia, the upper Amazon basin of northwestern Brazil, eastern Peru, and northwestern Bolivia.

Nominate Subspecies Distribution

The nominate subspecies C. c. cinereiventris occurs in southeastern Brazil south of Bahia, through eastern Paraguay, into Misiones Province of Argentina.

Habitat Types

The grey-rumped swift lives in a diverse set of landscapes: lowland tropical evergreen forest, montane evergreen forest, seasonally flooded tropical evergreen forest, and secondary forest.

Elevation Range

It can be found from sea level up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in elevation.