African Palm-Swift

SCI Name:  Cypsiurus parvus
Protonym:  Cypselus parvus Verz.Doubl.Zool.Mus.Berlin p.58
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Apodidae / Cypsiurus
Taxonomy Code:  afpswi1
Type Locality:  Nubia.
Author:  Lichtenstein, MHC
Publish Year:  1823
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CYPSIURUS
(Apodidae; Ϯ African Palm Swift C. parvus) Gr. κυψελος kupselos  swallow; ουρα oura  tail. "AMBERGRIS SWALLOW ...Grey-brown Swallow, beneath paler, with the tail greatly forked" (Stephens 1817); "105^e Genre: CYPSIURUS, Less.  Hab. l'Afrique. —  454. Cypsiurus ambrosiacus. Hirundo ambrosiacas, Brisson, t. 2 pl. 45 f. 4; L.; Gm.; cypselus ambrosiacus, Temm. pl. 460 f. 2; H. ambrosiaca, Vieill., ency. p. 520; Lesson, voy. de Bélang., p. 244; Séba, 1, 102; cypselus parvus, Lichst., cat. n^o 603; hab.: l'Egypte, la Nubie, le Sénégal, le Cap de Bonne-Espérance." (Lesson 1843); "Cypsiurus Lesson, Écho du Monde Savant, Ann. 10, 2me sem., 1843, p. 134. Type, by monotypy, Cypselus ambrosiacus Temminck = Cypselus parvus Lichtenstein." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 255).
Var. Cypselurus.
Synon. Tachynautes.

parvus
L. parvus  small, little, short.
● ex “Barbu du Sénégal” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 746, fig. 2, “Petit Barbu” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Little Barbet” of Latham 1782 (syn. Gymnobucco calvus).

PARUS
(Paridae; Ϯ Great Tit P. major) Late L. parus  tit, titmouse; a rare word, found only in Carmen de Philomela, by an unknown author (c. 500AD); "100. PARUS.  Rostrum integerrimum.  Lingua truncata, setis terminata." (Linnaeus 1758); "Parus Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 189. Type, by subsequent designation (Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, ed. 1, p. 23), Parus major Linnaeus." (Snow in Peters 1967, XII, 70).  Linnaeus's Parus comprised twelve species (P. cristatus, P. major, P. americanus, P. cæruleus, P. ater, P. palustris, P. caudatus, P. biarmicus, P. Pipra, P. erythrocephalus, P. Aureola, P. Cela).
Var. Para, Patus, Parvus.
Synon. Parulus.

SUBSPECIES

African Palm-Swift (African)
SCI Name: Cypsiurus parvus [parvus Group]
CYPSIURUS
(Apodidae; Ϯ African Palm Swift C. parvus) Gr. κυψελος kupselos  swallow; ουρα oura  tail. "AMBERGRIS SWALLOW ...Grey-brown Swallow, beneath paler, with the tail greatly forked" (Stephens 1817); "105^e Genre: CYPSIURUS, Less.  Hab. l'Afrique. —  454. Cypsiurus ambrosiacus. Hirundo ambrosiacas, Brisson, t. 2 pl. 45 f. 4; L.; Gm.; cypselus ambrosiacus, Temm. pl. 460 f. 2; H. ambrosiaca, Vieill., ency. p. 520; Lesson, voy. de Bélang., p. 244; Séba, 1, 102; cypselus parvus, Lichst., cat. n^o 603; hab.: l'Egypte, la Nubie, le Sénégal, le Cap de Bonne-Espérance." (Lesson 1843); "Cypsiurus Lesson, Écho du Monde Savant, Ann. 10, 2me sem., 1843, p. 134. Type, by monotypy, Cypselus ambrosiacus Temminck = Cypselus parvus Lichtenstein." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 255).
Var. Cypselurus.
Synon. Tachynautes.

African Palm-Swift (Comoro)
SCI Name: Cypsiurus parvus griveaudi
griveaudi
Dr Paul Griveaud (1907-1980) French entomologist, resident in Madagascar (subsp. Accipiter francesiae, subsp. Cypsiurus parvus, Treron).

African Palm-Swift (Madagascar)
SCI Name: Cypsiurus parvus gracilis
gracilis
L. gracilis or gracilus  slender, elegant, slim, thin.
● “has many characters in common with the Ptilotis chrysotis ... and the Ptilotis similis ... but it differs from both in the greater slenderness of its form, in its diminutive size, and, especially from the former, in the uniform colouring of its throat and abdomen” (Gould 1866) (Microptilotis).
● ex “Gracile Goatsucker” of Latham 1801 (syn. Podargus strigoides).