{{short description|Species of bird}} {{speciesbox | name = Plume-toed swiftlet | image = Hunting_plume-toed_swiftlets.png | status = | status_system = | status_ref = | genus = Collocalia | species = affinis | authority = Beavan, 1867 | synonyms = ''Collocalia esculenta affinis'' }}
The '''plume-toed swiftlet''' ('''''Collocalia affinis''''') is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is found on some eastern Indian Ocean islands, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and lowland Borneo.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It was previously considered a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet.
thumb|left|Plume-toed swiftlets entering and exiting their nests
==Taxonomy== The plume-toed swiftlet was described by the English ornithologist Robert Cecil Beavan in 1867 and given current binomial name ''Collocalia affinis''. The type locality is Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Beavan | first=Robert Cecil | author-link=Robert Cecil Beavan | year=1867 | title=The avifauna of the Andaman Islands | journal=Ibis | volume=9 | series=Series 2 | issue=3 | pages=314–334 [318] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8455602 | doi = 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1867.tb06434.x }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1940 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=4 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=229 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14476700 }}</ref> The specific epithet ''affinis'' is Latin for "related" or "applied".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=35 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n35/mode/1up }}</ref> The plume-toed swiftlet was previously treated as a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet but was promoted to species status based on the results of a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus ''Collocalia'' published in 2017.<ref name=rheindt>{{ cite journal | last1=Rheindt | first1=Frank E. | last2=Christidis | first2=Les | last3=Norman | first3=Janette A. | last4=Eaton | first4=James A. | last5=Sadanandan | first5=Keren R. | last6=Schodde | first6=Richard | year=2017 | title=Speciation in Indo-Pacific swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae): integrating molecular and phenotypic data for a new provisional taxonomy of the ''Collocalia esculenta'' complex | journal=Zootaxa | volume=4250 | issue=5 | pages=401–433 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4250.5.1 | pmid=28609999 }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2017 | title=Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts | work=World Bird List Version 7.3 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/swifts/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | accessdate=2 August 2017 }}</ref>
There are five subspecies:<ref name=ioc/> * ''C. a. affinis'' Beavan, 1867 – Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean * ''C. a. elachyptera'' Oberholser, 1906 – Mergui Archipelago off the west coast of southern Myanmar * ''C. a. vanderbilti'' Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee & Ripley, 1940 – Nias Island off the west coast of Sumatra * ''C. a. oberholseri'' Stresemann, 1912 – Batu and Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra * ''C. a. cyanoptila'' Oberholser, 1906 – Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Natuna Islands and lowland Borneo
thumb|Plume-toed swiftlet leaving its nest
==Description== The plume-toed swiftlet is {{cvt|9|-|10|cm}} in length with a square tail.<ref name=hbw>{{cite web | last1=Chantler | first1=P. | last2=Boesman | first2=P. | year=2017 | title=Glossy Swiftlet (''Collocalia esculenta'') | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=http://www.hbw.com/node/55264 | accessdate=23 August 2017 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The back and upper surface of the wings are uniformly dark greenish-blue with a moderate gloss. The throat and upper breast are dark grey merging into large greyish chevrons over the lower breast and flanks, usually becoming white over the belly. There is a tuft of small feathers on the {{birdgloss|hallux}}, the rear facing toe. This species lacks a pale contrasting rump and has no white spots on the inner webs of the tail feathers.<ref name=rheindt/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q39049316}}
plume-toed swiftlet Category:Birds of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Category:Birds of Southeast Asia plume-toed swiftlet plume-toed swiftlet
{{apodiformes-stub}}