NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Forbes-Watson's Swift
Apus berliozi Ripley, 1966
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
Forbes-Watson's swift (Apus berliozi) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae.
It breeds in coastal areas of Somalia and the southern Arabian Peninsula and on the island of Socotra. In the non-breeding season it has been observed as far south as coastal Mozambique.
Wikipedia contributors, Forbes-Watson's swift; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:49:07.470957+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Apus berliozi Ripley, 1966
- Name authority
- Ripley, 1966
- Common name
- Forbes-Watson's Swift
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Apodidae
- Genus
- Apus
- 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
- genusApus Scopoli, 1777
- speciesApus berliozi Ripley, 1966
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Apus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pallid SwiftApus pallidus (Shelley, 1870) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Plain SwiftApus unicolor (Jardine, 1830) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malagasy Black SwiftApus balstoni (Bartlett, 1880) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Salim Ali's SwiftApus salimalii Lack, 1958 | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fernando Po SwiftApus sladeniae (Ogilvie-Grant, 1904) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little SwiftApus affinis (J. E. Gray, 1830) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African Black SwiftApus barbatus (P. L. Sclater, 1866) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bradfield's SwiftApus bradfieldi (Roberts, 1926) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bates's SwiftApus batesi (Sharpe, 1904) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Nyanza SwiftApus niansae (Reichenow, 1887) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fork-tailed SwiftApus pacificus (Latham, 1801) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| House SwiftApus nipalensis (Hodgson, 1837) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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=555010 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:FZDF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.