Sooty Swift vs Black Spinetail
Cypseloides fumigatus compared with Telacanthura melanopygia
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Sooty Swift | Black Spinetail |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Cypseloides fumigatus | Telacanthura melanopygia |
| Order | Caprimulgiformes | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family | Apodidae | Apodidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 29.0 cm (11.4 in) | 32.4 cm (12.8 in) |
| Weight | 41.666666666666664 g (1.47 oz) | 52.0 g (1.83 oz) |
| Diet | Catches aerial plankton — tiny midges, gnats, and ballooning spiders — continuously during soaring flight. | High-speed aerial insectivore catching small flying insects and aerial spiders during fast sustained flight. |
| Clutch Size | 1 | -- |
| 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
Black Spinetail
Deep, resonant chattering with gravelly undertones; series of rough churring notes interspersed with sharp screaming calls.
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.
Black Spinetail
Found in West and Central Africa from Nigeria and Cameroon east to Uganda. Resident in lowland rainforest and forest edge.
Conservation Status
Sooty Swift
Black Spinetail
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 …
Black Spinetail
Large; entirely black plumage with slight gloss; black rump unlike white-rumped congeners; underparts dark; spiny tail; West African forest species; all-black coloration with no contrasting markings distinguishes it from all …
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.
Black Spinetail
A medium-sized spinetail swift (14-15 cm) of lowland rainforests in West and Central Africa. All-dark plumage. Spine-tipped tail for bracing against tree trunks. Aerial insectivore, foraging above the forest canopy. Nests inside hollow trees. Uncommon and seldom observed.