# Uniform swiftlet
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{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Uniform swiftlet
| image = Uniform Swiftlet (Aerodramus vanikorensis).jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = [{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Aerodramus vanikorensis'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T60835335A132039270 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T60835335A132039270.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}]
| genus = Aerodramus
| species = vanikorensis
| authority = ([Quoy](/source/Jean_Ren%C3%A9_Constant_Quoy) & [Gaimard](/source/Joseph_Paul_Gaimard), 1832)
| synonyms = *''Aerodramus bartschi''
*''Collocalia amelis'' Oberholser, 1906
*''Collocalia palawanensis'' Stresemann, 1914
*''Collocalia vanikorensis''
}}
The '''uniform swiftlet''' ('''''Aerodramus vanikorensis'''''), also known as the '''Vanikoro swiftlet''' or '''lowland swiftlet''', is a gregarious, medium-sized [swiftlet](/source/swiftlet) with a shallowly forked tail. The colouring is dark grey-brown, darker on the upperparts with somewhat paler underparts, especially on chin and throat. This species is widespread from the [Philippines](/source/Philippines) through [Wallacea](/source/Wallacea), [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea) and [Melanesia](/source/Melanesia). It forages for flying insects primarily in lowland forests and open areas. It nests in caves where it uses its sense of [echolocation](/source/Animal_echolocation), rare in birds, to navigate.
==Taxonomy==
The uniform swift was [formally described](/source/species_description) in 1832 by the French naturalists [Jean Quoy](/source/Jean_Ren%C3%A9_Constant_Quoy) and [Joseph Gaimard](/source/Joseph_Paul_Gaimard) from a specimen collected on the island of [Vanikoro](/source/Vanikoro) in the [Solomon Islands](/source/Solomon_Islands). They coined the [binomial name](/source/binomial_name) ''Hirundo vanikorensis''.[{{ cite book | last1=Quoy | first1=J.R.C. | author1-link=Jean René Constant Quoy | last2=Gaimard | first2=J.P. | author2-link=Joseph Paul Gaimard | date=1832 | title=Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe: exécuté par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829: Zoologie | volume=1 | language=French | location=Paris | publisher=J. Tastu | page=206, Plate 12, Fig. 3 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2064262 }} For the publication date see: {{ cite journal | last=Mlíkovský | first=Jiří | year=2012 | title=The dating of the ornithological part of Quoy and Gaimard's ''Voyage de l'Astrolabe''| journal=Zoological Bibliography | volume=2 | issue=2&3 | pages=59–69 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/54038142 }} A scan of the Plate 12 is available [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Oiseaux-_1._Hirondelle_%C3%A0_banbeau_m%C3%A2le_N%3B_2._Hirondelle_%C3%A0_gorge_ray%C3%A9e_femelle_N%3B_3._Hirondelle_de_Vanikoro_femelle_N%3B_4._Carouge_%C3%A1_caroncules_jeune_%C3%A2ge%3B_5._T%C3%A9te_de_l%27Adulte_%28NYPL_b13624459-1267048%29.jpg here]][{{ 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=226 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14476696 }}] This swiftlet is now placed in the genus ''[Aerodramus](/source/Aerodramus)'' that was introduced in 1906 by [Harry C. Oberholser](/source/Harry_C._Oberholser).[{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2023 | title=Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts | work=IOC World Bird List Version 13.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/swifts/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=29 August 2023 }}]
Twelve [subspecies](/source/subspecies) are recognised:[
* ''A. v. aenigma'' ([Riley](/source/Joseph_Harvey_Riley), 1918) – north, central, southeast [Sulawesi](/source/Sulawesi), [Banggai Islands](/source/Banggai_Islands_Regency) and [Sula Islands](/source/Sula_Islands_Regency) is. (east of [Sulawesi](/source/Sulawesi))
* ''A. v. heinrichi'' ([Stresemann](/source/Erwin_Stresemann), 1932) – south [Sulawesi](/source/Sulawesi)
* ''A. v. moluccarum'' (Stresemann, 1914) – central, south [Moluccas](/source/Maluku_Islands)
* ''A. v. waigeuensis'' (Stresemann & Paludan, 1932) – north [Moluccas](/source/Maluku_Islands) and [Raja Ampat Islands](/source/Raja_Ampat_Islands) (northwest of [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea))
* ''A. v. steini'' (Stresemann & Paludan, 1932) – [Numfor](/source/Numfor) and [Biak](/source/Biak) ([Geelvink Bay](/source/Cenderawasih_Bay) islands, northwest [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea))
* ''A. v. yorki'' ([Mathews](/source/Gregory_Mathews), 1916) – [Aru Islands](/source/Aru_Islands_Regency) (southwest of [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea)), [Yapen](/source/Yapen) ([Geelvink Bay](/source/Cenderawasih_Bay) islands, northwest [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea)) and [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea)
* ''A. v. tagulae'' ([Mayr](/source/Carl_Eduard_Hellmayr), 1937) – [D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago](/source/D'Entrecasteaux_Islands), [Louisiade Archipelago](/source/Louisiade_Archipelago), [Trobriand Islands](/source/Trobriand_Islands) and [Woodlark Island](/source/Woodlark_Island) (east of southeast [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea))
* ''A. v. coultasi'' (Mayr, 1937) – [Admiralty Islands](/source/Admiralty_Islands) and [St Matthias Islands](/source/St_Matthias_Islands) (northwest, central north [Bismarck Archipelago](/source/Bismarck_Archipelago))
* ''A. v. pallens'' ([Salomonsen](/source/Finn_Salomonsen), 1983) – [New Hanover Island](/source/New_Hanover_Island) (=New Hanover), [New Ireland](/source/New_Ireland_(island)) and [Dyaul](/source/Dyaul_Island) (=Djaul) and [New Britain](/source/New_Britain) (east [Bismarck Archipelago](/source/Bismarck_Archipelago))
* ''A. v. lihirensis'' (Mayr, 1937) – islands northeast of [New Ireland](/source/New_Ireland_(island)) (northeast [Bismarck Archipelago](/source/Bismarck_Archipelago))
* ''A. v. lugubris'' (Salomonsen, 1983) – [Buka](/source/Buka_Island) to [Rennell Island](/source/Rennell_Island) and [Makira](/source/Makira) ([Solomon Islands](/source/Solomon_Islands) except [Tetepare](/source/Tetepare_Island))
* ''A. v. vanikorensis'' ([Quoy](/source/Jean_Ren%C3%A9_Constant_Quoy) & [Gaimard](/source/Joseph_Paul_Gaimard), 1832) – [Temotu](/source/Temotu_Province) (=[Santa Cruz Islands](/source/Santa_Cruz_Islands), southeast [Solomon Islands](/source/Solomon_Islands)) and [Vanuatu](/source/Vanuatu)
==Description==
The uniform swiftlet is a gregarious, medium-sized [swiftlet](/source/swiftlet) with a shallowly forked tail. It is about 13 cm long with a wingspan averaging around 27 cm. It weighs about 11 grams. The colouring is dark grey-brown, darker on the upperparts with paler underparts, especially on chin and throat. It is similar to, and most likely to be confused with, the [white-rumped swiftlet](/source/white-rumped_swiftlet) or [mountain swiftlet](/source/mountain_swiftlet).
==Distribution and habitat==
This species is widespread from the [Philippines](/source/Philippines) through [Wallacea](/source/Wallacea), [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea) and [Melanesia](/source/Melanesia). It has been recorded as a rare vagrant to [Australia](/source/Australia), from [Cape York Peninsula](/source/Cape_York_Peninsula) and islands in [Torres Strait](/source/Torres_Strait).
The uniform swiftlet forages over lowland forests and open areas. It roosts in caves and sinkholes, mostly in limestone areas. The caves may be as little as {{convert|10|m|0|abbr=on}} long but are usually much larger. Sometimes man-made tunnels or structures are used.][{{cite web |url=http://www.birdinghawaii.co.uk/XSwiftlet2.htm |title=The Mariana Swiftlet (Aerodramus bartschi) |year=2002 |publisher=Birding Hawaii |access-date=2013-12-23}}]
==Behaviour==
===Food and feeding===
This species feeds on flying insects, especially ants.
===Breeding===
This species nests [colonially](/source/Bird_colony) in caves where it uses [echolocation](/source/Animal_echolocation) to navigate. The nest is a shallow cup of mossy material and saliva, usually attached to a vertical surface of a cave wall in the completely dark zone. On Guam, Neckeropsis lepiniana, is used as the nesting material and in Hawaii, a liverwort (''[Herberta](/source/Herberta) spp.'') is used. One or two white eggs form the clutch. The incubation period is at least twelve days and the young may take thirty-five days to fledge.[
==Status==
The uniform swiftlet has a very large range and that they are locally common and in some places abundant within that range. The population has not been quantified but is believed to be stable. The birds face no particular threats, and as a result, the IUCN has listed it as being of "[Least Concern](/source/Least_Concern)".]