Peter Kovalik
Well-known member
Michael S. L. Mills, Peter Boesman, N. J. Collar. Species limits in the African Palm Swift Cypsiurus parvus. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 139(1):75-82 (2019). https://doi.org/10.25226/bboc.v139i1.2019.a6
Abstract:
The Malagasy forms gracilis (Madagascar) and griveaudi (Comoro Islands) of African Palm Swift Cypsiurus parvus have very different vocalisations (short insect-like single buzzy notes and occasional drawn-out rising buzzes) from mainland African taxa (twitters and staccato notes, the former sometimes in longer series). They also have heavier dark markings on the throat and upper breast, paler bellies and distinctly shorter tail extensions. These characters in combination are here considered to demarcate the Malagasy forms as a species, Madagascar Palm Swift C. gracilis, separate from both the remaining taxa of C. parvus and Asian Palm Swift C. balasiensis.
African Palm Swift Cypsiurus parvus is distributed widely across sub-Saharan Africa, the Comoro Islands and Madagascar in eight subspecies: C. p. parvus from Senegambia east as far as south-west Arabia; brachypterus from Sierra Leone east to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, plus the Gulf of Guinea islands; C. p. myochrous from South Sudan south to eastern Botswana and northern South Africa; C. p. laemostigma from Somalia to Mozambique; C. p. hyphaenes in northern Namibia and Botswana; C. p. celer in southern Mozambique and eastern South Africa; C. p. griveaudi in the Comoros; and C. p. gracilis in Madagascar (Fry 1988, Chantler 1999, Chantler & Driessens 2000, Dickinson & Remsen 2013, Safford 2013, del Hoyo & Collar 2014). Published diagnoses of these taxa (Brooke 1972, Clancey 1983, Fry 1988, Chantler & Driessens 2000) indicate that differences between the continental forms are relatively subtle, but that the insular forms in the Indian Ocean are collectively a little more distinctive.
On a visit to Madagascar in November 2017, MSLM noticed that the calls of the palm swifts were strikingly different from those with which he is familiar in mainland Africa. The possibility therefore emerged that the Malagasy taxa might merit further study, to reconsider their taxonomic status.
[pdf]
Abstract:
The Malagasy forms gracilis (Madagascar) and griveaudi (Comoro Islands) of African Palm Swift Cypsiurus parvus have very different vocalisations (short insect-like single buzzy notes and occasional drawn-out rising buzzes) from mainland African taxa (twitters and staccato notes, the former sometimes in longer series). They also have heavier dark markings on the throat and upper breast, paler bellies and distinctly shorter tail extensions. These characters in combination are here considered to demarcate the Malagasy forms as a species, Madagascar Palm Swift C. gracilis, separate from both the remaining taxa of C. parvus and Asian Palm Swift C. balasiensis.
African Palm Swift Cypsiurus parvus is distributed widely across sub-Saharan Africa, the Comoro Islands and Madagascar in eight subspecies: C. p. parvus from Senegambia east as far as south-west Arabia; brachypterus from Sierra Leone east to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, plus the Gulf of Guinea islands; C. p. myochrous from South Sudan south to eastern Botswana and northern South Africa; C. p. laemostigma from Somalia to Mozambique; C. p. hyphaenes in northern Namibia and Botswana; C. p. celer in southern Mozambique and eastern South Africa; C. p. griveaudi in the Comoros; and C. p. gracilis in Madagascar (Fry 1988, Chantler 1999, Chantler & Driessens 2000, Dickinson & Remsen 2013, Safford 2013, del Hoyo & Collar 2014). Published diagnoses of these taxa (Brooke 1972, Clancey 1983, Fry 1988, Chantler & Driessens 2000) indicate that differences between the continental forms are relatively subtle, but that the insular forms in the Indian Ocean are collectively a little more distinctive.
On a visit to Madagascar in November 2017, MSLM noticed that the calls of the palm swifts were strikingly different from those with which he is familiar in mainland Africa. The possibility therefore emerged that the Malagasy taxa might merit further study, to reconsider their taxonomic status.
[pdf]
