NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Seychelles Swiftlet
Aerodramus elaphrus (Oberholser, 1906)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Seychelles swiftlet (Aerodramus elaphrus) is a small bird of the swift family. It is found only in the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean. It is 10–12 cm long with a wingspan of 28 cm and a weight of about 10 g. The upperparts are dark grey-brown and are slightly paler on the rump. The underparts are pale grey-brown, darkest on the undertail-coverts. The bill and legs are black. The tail is dark and slightly forked. The wings are long and narrow but are less pointed than those of the other swift species which sometimes visit the islands. A soft, twittering call is given in flight by feeding flocks and the birds also have a low-pitched, metallic clicking call used for echolocation in caves. The Seychelles swiftlet is related to the smaller, paler Mascarene swiftlet (Aerodramus francicus) of Mauritius and Réunion and has been treated as a subspecies of it in the past. The two are thought to have separated about 500,000 years ago. The Seychelles swiftlet breeds on the islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.
Wikipedia contributors, Seychelles swiftlet; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:39:02.469584+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Aerodramus elaphrus (Oberholser, 1906)
- Name authority
- (Oberholser, 1906)
- Common name
- Seychelles Swiftlet
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Apodidae
- Genus
- Aerodramus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderApodiformes
- familyApodidae
- subfamilyApodinae
- genusAerodramus Oberholser, 1906
- speciesAerodramus elaphrus (Oberholser, 1906)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Aerodramus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Himalayan SwiftletAerodramus brevirostris (Horsfield, 1840) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Halmahera SwiftletAerodramus infuscatus (Salvadori, 1880) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Palau SwiftletAerodramus pelewensis (Mayr, 1935) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bare-legged SwiftletAerodramus nuditarsus (Salomonsen, 1962) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mascarene SwiftletAerodramus francicus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Marquesan SwiftletAerodramus ocistus (Oberholser, 1906) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tahiti SwiftletAerodramus leucophaeus (Peale, 1849) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mossy-nest SwiftletAerodramus salangana (Streubel, 1848) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Australian SwiftletAerodramus terraereginae (E. P. Ramsay, 1875) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mayr's SwiftletAerodramus orientalis (Mayr, 1935) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ameline SwiftletAerodramus amelis (Oberholser, 1906) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Atiu SwiftletAerodramus sawtelli (Holyoak, 1974) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Collocalia elaphra Oberholser, 1906 Oberholser, 1906 | synonym |
| Collocalia fuciphaga elaphra Oberholser, 1906 Oberholser, 1906 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554947 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:64YT2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.