Band-rumped Swift

Chaetura spinicaudus

The band-rumped swift (Chaetura spinicaudus) is a small swift. Until 1998, it was known as Chaetura spinicauda. At that time, the previously considered subspecies Costa Rican swift, Chaetura fumosa, was split from this species and the scientific name was modified from C. spinacauda to C. spinacaudus.

It breeds in forested areas from Costa Rica south and east to Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guianas, Trinidad and northeast Brazil. The nest is a half saucer of twigs glued to the inside of a tree hole or similar shaded location with saliva.

The band-rumped swift is a speedy slender bird, 11.5 cm long, weighing 15 g. The upperparts are blackish with a whitish band across the rump, and the underparts are dark brown with a paler throat. It has a short tail.

It feeds in flight on flying insects, often low over roads or clearings in the morning or evening, rising high above the forest, often with other swifts, in the middle of the day.

It has a chittering csinck call.