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Apus batesi

[edit] Identification

Small dark Apus swift. Slender (slenderer than Little / House Swift) with a rather deeply forked slim tail, noticably shorter than the similar Schoutendenapus spp. Plumage deep black with an indistinct grey chin and throat.

[edit] Distribution

West and Central Africa. Found locally in Zaire (Kivu) and Central African Republic, further from Cameroon along the coast to Gabon, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Has been recorded from the Upper Guinea forest region between Guinea (Conakry) and Benin and these may represent an unknown population or vagrants.

Generally rare and local, but not globally threatened.

[edit] Taxonomy

Monotypic^[1]

[edit] Habitat

Found over hilly rainforest, with crags and cliffs used by Cliff Swallow spp for nesting.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Flight

Winnowing flight in which only the wingtips appear to move, and very few glides. Does not "jink" into turns but swerves rather elegantly.

[edit] Breeding

Apparantly uses old Cliff Swallow spp. nests for breeding.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

• List of references

[edit] External Links