Sooty swift
{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2022}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Sooty swift
| image = Sooty Swift at nest - Intervales NP - Brazil S4E0547 (12812168335).jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Cypseloides
| species = fumigatus
| authority = (Streubel, 1848)
| synonyms =
| range_map = Cypseloides fumigatus map.svg
}}
The sooty swift (Cypseloides fumigatus) is a species of bird in subfamily Cypseloidinae of the swift family Apodidae.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/swifts/ |title=Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts, swifts |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 12.2 |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1= F. |editor-last2=Donsker|editor-first2=D.|editor-last3=Rasmussen |editor-first3=P. |date=August 2022 |access-date=August 9, 2022 }}HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022 It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022
Taxonomy and systematics
The sooty swift, Rothschild's swift (Cypseloides rothschildi), white-chested swift, (C. lemosi), and American black swift (C. niger) form a superspecies. Some authors have treated sooty and Rothschild's swifts as conspecific.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022 The sooty swift is monotypic.
Description
The sooty swift is about {{convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. Males weigh about {{convert|42|g|oz|abbr=on}} and females about {{convert|41|g|oz|abbr=on}}. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a brown head, a black patch around the eye, and lighter brown forehead and cheeks. Their back is a darker brown than the head. The upper side of their tail is brown and the underside a grayer brown. The upper side of the wing is mostly blackish brown and the underside somewhat lighter. Juveniles have some gray fringing on the body and wings but are otherwise like adults.Hernandez, N. (2020). Sooty Swift (Cypseloides fumigatus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.sooswi1.01 retrieved October 1, 2022
Distribution and habitat
The sooty swift is found from southern Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil south to Rio Grande do Sul, eastern Paraguay, and northern Argentina's Misiones Province. There are no records in Bolivia despite its being included there in some taxonomic lists. The sooty swift has mostly been recorded over evergreen montane, tropical, and temperate forests, and also secondary forest, scrublands, and marshes. In elevation it is found between {{convert|700|and|2100|m|ft|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}.
Behavior
=Migration=
=Feeding=
Like all swifts, the sooty is an aerial insectivore, but no details of its diet are known.
=Breeding=
The sooty swift's breeding season varies somewhat across its range, but is between October and February overall. It makes a cup or crescent shaped nest of moss, ferns, leaves, pebbles, and mud on a rock face. Most nests are on cliff ledges but some are on the vertical face itself. Most are very near waterfalls and even behind them. It lays a single egg. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.
{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Cypseloides-fumigatus |species=sooty swift}}
=Vocalization=
Status
The IUCN has assessed the sooty swift as being of Least Concern. it has a large range but its population size is not known and believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.