🐦

Philippine Swiftlet

Aerodramus mearnsi

Least Concern
Envergadura
21,8 cm
Peso
11,5 g
Familia
Apodidae
Orden
Caprimulgiformes
On this page

Acerca de

A small swiftlet (10-11 cm) endemic to the Philippines. Dark plumage with a pale rump. Aerial insectivore. Colonial cave nester. Uses echolocation for navigating dark cave interiors. Found across the major Philippine island groups. Poorly studied ecology.

Physical Description

Measurement Value Imperial
Envergadura 21,8 cm 8.6 in
Peso 11,5 g 0.41 oz

Identificación

Plumaje

Small; dark grey-brown upperparts with faint gloss; pale grey rump band; underparts greyish-white; moderately forked tail; Philippine endemic using echolocation; echolocation ability distinguishes Aerodramus from Collocalia swiftlets.

Habitat & Range

Distribución geográfica

Endemic to the Philippines, found on Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, and adjacent islands. Resident in lowland and hill forest and open areas.

Diet & Feeding

Obligate aerial feeder on microscopic flying insects and spiders; highly social forager over tropical forest.

Estado de conservación

Least Concern
IUCN Red List

Comportamiento y reproducción

Nidificación

Nest type: SA.

Tamaño de la puesta

4

Sonido

Canto

High twittering trill; thin 'tsit-tsit' notes over Philippine mountains; echolocation clicks in cave roosts; calls softly; flock produces chattering at roost; unremarkable vocalizations

Taxonomía

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Aves
Orden Caprimulgiformes (Chotacabras y Vencejos)
Familia Apodidae (Vencejos)
Genus Aerodramus
Especies Aerodramus mearnsi

Distribution

Philippine Swiftlet has been recorded in 1 countries.

{# Distribution Map — simplified SVG world map with highlighted countries. Expects `country_codes` variable: list of ISO alpha-2 codes (e.g. ["US", "CA", "MX"]). Uses Alpine.js to toggle classes on country paths. #}
Presente Not recorded
{# Simplified country/region shapes — major landmasses with ISO alpha-2 data attributes. These are simplified polygon representations for visual distribution display. #}

countries highlighted

External Databases

Preguntas frecuentes

What does the Philippine Swiftlet eat?
Obligate aerial feeder on microscopic flying insects and spiders; highly social forager over tropical forest.
Where does the Philippine Swiftlet live?
Endemic to the Philippines, found on Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, and adjacent islands. Resident in lowland and hill forest and open areas.
Is the Philippine Swiftlet endangered?
The Philippine Swiftlet has a conservation status of Least Concern.
How does the Philippine Swiftlet nest?
Nest type: SA.
What does the Philippine Swiftlet sound like?
High twittering trill; thin 'tsit-tsit' notes over Philippine mountains; echolocation clicks in cave roosts; calls softly; flock produces chattering at roost; unremarkable vocalizations
How big is the Philippine Swiftlet?
The Philippine Swiftlet has a wingspan of 21.8 cm, weight of 11.5 g.
What order and family does the Philippine Swiftlet belong to?
The Philippine Swiftlet (Aerodramus mearnsi) belongs to the order Caprimulgiformes and the family Apodidae.

Similar Birds

Other species in the Apodidae family

Comparar

Explore More

Explore the Nature FYI Family