Chaetura
| Chaetura | |
|---|---|
| |
| Chimney swift Chaetura pelagica | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Strisores |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Apodidae |
| Subfamily: | Apodinae |
| Genus: | Chaetura Stephens, 1826 |
| Species | |
|
12 living, see text | |
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.
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]
- Band-rumped swift – Chaetura spinicauda
- Lesser Antillean swift – Chaetura martinica
- Gray-rumped swift – Chaetura cinereiventris
- Pale-rumped swift – Chaetura egregia
- Chimney swift – Chaetura pelagica
- Vaux's swift – Chaetura vauxi
- Chapman's swift – Chaetura chapmani
- Short-tailed swift – Chaetura brachyura
- Ashy-tailed swift – Chaetura andrei
- Sick's swift – Chaetura meridionalis
- Mato Grosso swift – Chaetura viridipennis
- Costa Rican swift – Chaetura fumosa
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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