Black-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus) [XC182035]
by Arnold Meijer from Singapore, Singapore (call)
Black-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus) [XC35626]
by id from Gomantong Caves, Malaysia (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in Indonesia, February - September, in colonies, mostly on offshore isets.
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Nest
Bracket of the parents feathers and saliva, attached to a vertical rock-face.
Eggs (Guide)
1; white; 22.9 - 23.5 x 15.3 - 16 mm.
Subspecies
Genus often merged into Collocalia. Much confusion over nomenclature: species originally named maxima in 1876, but incorrectly. Validated by same author in 1878; however, this emendation was long overlooked, in part due to lumping of these names within innominatus of Himalayan Swiftlet (Aerodramus brevirostris), an older name. During this period the name used for present species was lowi, while northern subspecies was listed as robinsoni, as next available name. Despite the unlikely distribution pattern resulting, nominate subspecies and lowi apparently co-occur and intergrade in western Java. Both vulcanorum of Himalayan Swiftlet (Aerodramus brevirostris) and palawanensis of Uniform Swiftlet (Aerodramus vanikorensis) have been placed in present species.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
maximus (Hume, 1878) - Southern Myanmar to southern Malay Peninsula, south-eastern Vietnam and western Java.
lowi (Sharpe, 1879) - Sumatra and islands off western coast, north, western and southern Borneo, Labuan I and western Java.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
A Field Guide to the Birds of South-east Asia Robson, C., 2000, New Holland ISBN 1 84330 118 0
BirdLife International Species Factsheet