Apus batesi
The Bates's Swift (*Apus batesi*) is a small to medium-sized aerial insectivore, typically measuring around 14 cm (5.5 in) in length. Its plumage is uniformly sooty black or very dark brown, often displaying a subtle greenish sheen in optimal light, distinguishing it from other swift species that may have pale rump or throat patches. This sleek, dark appearance, coupled with its moderately forked tail (which can appear square in flight) and long, scythe-like wings, makes it a master of the ai...
This swift primarily inhabits tropical rainforests and humid evergreen forests, favoring forest clearings, edges, and secondary growth. It is typically found in lowland areas, ranging up to approximately 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) in elevation.
Bates's Swifts are obligate aerial insectivores, feeding exclusively on a wide variety of flying insects caught on the wing, including beetles, ants, flies, and true bugs.
Bates's Swifts are almost exclusively aerial, spending their days in continuous flight, foraging and socializing, and rarely perching except for nesting. They exhibit a remarkable foraging strategy, tirelessly pursuing and catching flying insects high above the forest canopy, often in dynamic flo...
The Bates's Swift is a resident species, primarily distributed across the lowland rainforests of West-Central Africa. Its core breeding and year-round range encompasses Southern Cameroon, the southwestern Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea (including Bioko Island), Gabon, Republic of the...
Least Concern
- Bates's Swift is named after George Latimer Bates, an American naturalist and ornithologist who extensively explored Central Africa. - Unlike most birds, swifts (including Bates's Swift) possess pamprodactyl feet, meaning all four toes can point forward, allowing them to cling efficiently to ve...