Antillean Palm-Swift

SCI Name:  Tachornis phoenicobia
Protonym:  Tachornis phoenicobia BirdsJamaica p.58
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Apodidae / Tachornis
Taxonomy Code:  anpswi
Type Locality:  Jamaica.
Author:  Gosse
Publish Year:  1847
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

TACHORNIS
(Apodidae; Ϯ Antillean Palm Swift T. phoenicobia) Gr. ταχυς takhus  fast; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird; "PALM SWIFT.*  Tachornis phœnicobia.—MIHI.   THIS delicately-formed little Swift, conspicuous even in flight, from the broad belt of white across the black body, is a very common species in Jamaica, where it resides all the year.  Over the grass-pieces and savannas of the lowlands, the marshy flats at the seaward mouths of the valleys, as well as the pens of the mountain slopes, this swift-winged sylph daily urges its rushing course in parties of half-a-dozen to fifty or a hundred, often mingled with other Swallows, performing mazy evolutions, circling and turning, crossing and recrossing, now darting aloft, now sweeping over the grass, til the eye is wearied with attempting to follow them.  The length of its wings, which is scarcely less than that of the whole bird, — renders it a fleet and powerful flier   ...   * TACHORNIS.  Generic Character.—Bill very short, depressed, gape very wide, the sides suddenly compressed at the tip, which is curved; the margins inflected; nostrils, large, longitudinal, placed in a membranous groove, the margins destitute of feathers.  Wings very long and narrow; first quill tapered to a point: second longest.  Tail slightly forked, a little emarginated.  Tarsi rather longer than middle toe, feathered.  Toes all directed forwards, compressed, short, thick, and strong, with compressed claws.  Sternum immarginate, but with three foramina, one through the ridge, and one on each side." (Gosse 1847); "Tachornis Gosse, Bds. Jamaica, 1847, p. 58. Type, by monotypy, Tachornis phoenicobia Gosse." (Peters 1940, IV, 254).
Synon. Claudia, Micropanyptila, Reinarda.

phoenicobia
Gr. φοινιξ phoinix, φοινικος phoinikos  palm tree; βιος bios  manner of living.

SUBSPECIES

Antillean Palm-Swift (iradii)
SCI Name: Tachornis phoenicobia iradii
iradii
José Cayetano Iradi or Yradi (fl. 1830) Cuban naturalist (Björn Bergenholtz in litt.) (subsp. Tachornis phoenicobia).

Antillean Palm-Swift (phoenicobia)
SCI Name: Tachornis phoenicobia phoenicobia
phoenicobia
Gr. φοινιξ phoinix, φοινικος phoinikos  palm tree; βιος bios  manner of living.