Pygmy Swift

SCI Name:  Tachornis furcata
Protonym:  Micropanyptila furcata Auk 45 p.135 pl.6
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Apodidae / Tachornis
Taxonomy Code:  pygswi1
Type Locality:  Guachi, Zulia, Venezuela.
Author:  Sutton
Publish Year:  1928
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.

furcata
Med. L. furcatus  forked  < L. furca  two-pronged fork  < ferre  to tend.
● ex “Mellisuga Jamaicensis violacea cauda bifurca” of Brisson 1760, “Oiseau-mouche violet à queue fourchue” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Lesser fork-tailed Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (Thalurania).

SUBSPECIES

Pygmy Swift (furcata)
SCI Name: Tachornis furcata furcata
furcata
Med. L. furcatus  forked  < L. furca  two-pronged fork  < ferre  to tend.
● ex “Mellisuga Jamaicensis violacea cauda bifurca” of Brisson 1760, “Oiseau-mouche violet à queue fourchue” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Lesser fork-tailed Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (Thalurania).

Pygmy Swift (nigrodorsalis)
SCI Name: Tachornis furcata nigrodorsalis
nigrodorsalis
L. niger black; dorsalis (properly dorsualis) dorsal, of the back < dorsum back.