Sooty Swift vs African Palm Swift
Cypseloides fumigatus compared with Cypsiurus parvus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Sooty Swift | African Palm Swift |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Cypseloides fumigatus | Cypsiurus parvus |
| Order | Caprimulgiformes | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family | Apodidae | Apodidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 29.0 cm (11.4 in) | 27.2 cm (10.7 in) |
| Weight | 41.666666666666664 g (1.47 oz) | 14.38 g (0.51 oz) |
| Diet | Catches aerial plankton — tiny midges, gnats, and ballooning spiders — continuously during soaring flight. | Exclusively aerial diet; consumes tiny flying insects and spiders, sometimes following insect swarms for km. |
| Clutch Size | 1 | 1-3 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
Sooty Swift
Soft twittering 'tsit-tsit'; thin, buzzy notes in flight; calls over Neotropical waterfalls and gorges; quiet, raspy trill; rarely as vocal as larger swift species
African Palm Swift
Deep, hollow churring trill with resonant bass quality; prolonged vibrating call audible at significant range in open woodland.
Geographic Range & Migration
Sooty Swift
Found in the Guiana Shield and Amazon Basin in Brazil, Venezuela, and the Guianas. Nomadic; associated with rocky outcrops and waterfalls.
African Palm Swift
Found across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Somalia and south to South Africa. Common in open areas near palms; nests in palm leaves.
Conservation Status
Sooty Swift
African Palm Swift
How to Tell Them Apart
Sooty Swift
Uniformly dark sooty-brown plumage throughout; no contrasting pale markings anywhere; slightly paler brownish-grey on throat; large and uniform; South American species whose entirely dark coloration recalls blackish swiftlets but much …
African Palm Swift
Slender and long-tailed; uniformly pale greyish-brown overall; underparts paler grey-buff; long deeply forked tail; pale uniform appearance with no contrasting markings; widespread African palm-nesting swift with distinctive slender silhouette.
About These Birds
Sooty Swift
A medium-sized swift (15-17 cm) found in subtropical and montane forests of southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Sooty-brown plumage. Aerial insectivore, foraging over forested gorges and waterfalls. Nests behind waterfalls on wet rock faces.
African Palm Swift
A slender swift (15-17 cm) with long, narrow wings and a deeply forked tail. Dark brown plumage. Found across sub-Saharan Africa in savanna and open woodland, closely associated with palm trees. Aerial insectivore. One of Africa's most abundant swift species.