View source for Cave swiftlet

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Cave swiftlet
| image = Cave Swiftlet (Collocalia linchi) 1.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Collocalia linchi'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22686498A93114737 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22686498A93114737.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Collocalia linchi
| authority = [[Thomas Horsfield|Horsfield]] & [[Frederic Moore|Moore, F]], 1854
| synonyms = 
}}

The '''cave swiftlet''' or '''linchi swiftlet''' ('''''Collocalia linchi''''') is a species of [[Swift (bird)|swift]] in the family [[Apodidae]]. It is found on the [[Indonesia]] islands of [[Sumatra]], [[Java]] and [[Bali]]. It is a woodland species and nests in caves.  The [[Bornean swiftlet]] was considered a subspecies, but is now usually considered distinct.

==Taxonomy==
The cave swiftlet was [[Species description|described]] by the naturalists [[Thomas Horsfield]] and [[Frederic Moore]] in 1854 under the present [[binomial name]] ''Collocalia linchi''.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Horsfield | first1=Thomas | author1-link=Thomas Horsfield | last2=Moore | first2=Frederic  | author2-link=Frederic Moore | year=1854 | title=A Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the Honorable East India Company | volume=1 | place=London | publisher=W.H. Allen | pages=100–106 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47310200 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1940 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=4 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | pages=229–230 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14476700 }}</ref>  The specific epithet ''linchi'' is the [[Javanese language|Javanese]] word for a swiftlet.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=227 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n227/mode/1up }}</ref>

There are four recognised [[subspecies]]:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2017 | title=Owlet-nightjars, treeswifts & swifts | work=World Bird List Version 7.3 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/swifts/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=2 August 2017 }}</ref> 
* ''C. l. dedii'' Somadikarta, 1986 - [[Bali]] and [[Lombok]]
* ''C. l. linchi'' Horsfield & Moore, F, 1854 - [[Bawean]] and [[Java]]
* ''C. l. ripleyi'' Somadikarta, S, 1986 - [[Barisan Mountains]], [[Sumatra]]
* <s>''C. l. dodgei'' Richmond, 1905 - Mt Kinabalu (Sabah), in N Borneo.</s> (now a full species: ''[[Collocalia dodgei]]'')

==Description==
This bird is shiny blackish-brown above with a greenish gloss, including its rump; sometimes looks black and hooded. Chest black; belly to flanks pale grey with fine black speckles at margins. Wing tips are rounded; underwing is black. Tail black, rounded with shallow notch but lacking the white specks found in the very similar [[glossy swiftlet]] (''Collocalia esculenta''). A distinguishing feature between the two species is that the glossy swiftlet has a tuft of feathers on its hind toe but the cave swiftlet has a naked toe. It is {{convert|9|to|11.5|cm|1|abbr=on}} in length. The call is a high-pitched "cheer-cheer".<ref name=Chantler>{{cite book |title=Swifts: A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World |last=Chantler |first=Phil |year=2010 |publisher=A & C Black |isbn=9781408135402 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D1cln-YPAHMC&q=Collocalia+linchi&pg=PT31 }}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
The cave swiftlet is native to Malaysia and Indonesia.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> It is found in the Sundaic region, in [[Java]], [[Madura Island]], [[Bawean]], [[Kangean Island]], [[Nusa Penida]], [[Bali]] and [[Lombok]], parts of [[Sumatra]], and the western slopes of [[Mount Kinabalu]] on [[Sabah]], Borneo. Evidence of it occurring in Malaysia rests on a single specimen in the [[British Museum]] labelled "Molacca". Its natural habitat is lowland and upland forest and open woodland.<ref name=Chantler/>

==Behaviour==
The cave swiftlet is highly gregarious and flies with all the other species of swift that are [[Sympatry|sympatric]] with it. It often circles and flies through the branches of trees emerging through the canopy such as fruiting [[Ficus|figs]]. It breeds in the lighter parts of caves, building a nest of stringy vegetation and cementing the materials to the rock with [[saliva]]. Two white, somewhat elongated eggs are laid.<ref name=Chantler/>

==Status==
The cave swiftlet has a very wide range and is common in Java and the nearby islands. It has no particular threats and the [[IUCN]] has listed it as being of "[[Least Concern]]". Although the overall population may be declining slightly, this is not believed to be at such a rate as would justify listing it in a more threatened category.<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Collocalia linchi'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22686498A93114737 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22686498A93114737.en |access-date=16 November 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal | last=Somadikarta | first=S. | year=1986 | title=''Collocalia linchi'' Horsfield and Moore — a revision | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=106 | issue=1 | pages=32–40 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40085221 }}
*{{cite journal | last1=Rheindt | first1=Frank E. | last2=Christidis | first2=Les  | last3=Norman | first3=Janette A. | last4=Eaton | first4=James A. | last5=Sadanandan | first5=Keren R. | last6=Schodde | first6=Richard | year=2017 | title=Speciation in Indo-Pacific swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae): integrating molecular and phenotypic data for a new provisional taxonomy of the ''Collocalia esculenta'' complex | journal=Zootaxa | volume=4250 | issue=5 | pages=401–433 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4250.5.1 | pmid=28609999 }}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q31961}}

[[Category:Collocalia|cave swiftlet]]
[[Category:Birds of Sumatra]]
[[Category:Birds of Java]]
[[Category:Birds of Bali]]
[[Category:Birds of Lombok]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1854|cave swiftlet]]
[[Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot]]