African Palm Swift vs Great Swallow-tailed Swift
Cypsiurus parvus compared with Panyptila sanctihieronymi
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | African Palm Swift | Great Swallow-tailed Swift |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Cypsiurus parvus | Panyptila sanctihieronymi |
| Order | Caprimulgiformes | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family | Apodidae | Apodidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 27.2 cm (10.7 in) | 36.8 cm (14.5 in) |
| Weight | 14.38 g (0.51 oz) | 48.416666666666664 g (1.71 oz) |
| Diet | Exclusively aerial diet; consumes tiny flying insects and spiders, sometimes following insect swarms for km. | Catches aerial plankton — tiny midges, gnats, and ballooning spiders — continuously during soaring flight. |
| Clutch Size | 1-3 | 2-3 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Shared Habitats
African Palm Swift only
Great Swallow-tailed Swift only
None
Song & Call Comparison
African Palm Swift
Deep, hollow churring trill with resonant bass quality; prolonged vibrating call audible at significant range in open woodland.
Great Swallow-tailed Swift
Soft, rippling trill with liquid overtones; easy flowing sequence of mellow notes carrying pleasantly across open sky.
Geographic Range & Migration
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.
Great Swallow-tailed Swift
Found from southern Mexico through Guatemala, Honduras, to Costa Rica. Resident in humid highland forest at 600–2,000 m elevation.
Conservation Status
African Palm Swift
Great Swallow-tailed Swift
How to Tell Them Apart
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.
Great Swallow-tailed Swift
Black upperparts with white throat and white flanks; bold white rump patch; extremely long deeply forked tail with white outer feather edges; Central American species with the most spectacular forked …
About These Birds
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.
Great Swallow-tailed Swift
A large swift (18-20 cm) with an extremely long, deeply forked tail. Dark plumage with a white throat and collar. Found in highland forests from southern Mexico to Honduras. Aerial insectivore, foraging over mountain canyons and pine-oak forests. Uncommon and rarely observed.