Mottled swift
The mottled swift (Tachymarptis aequatorialis) is a species of bird in the swift family, Apodidae. It is one of two species in the genus Tachymarptis together with the alpine swift (T. melba). It occurs widely in eastern Africa and locally in western Africa. It is found in Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
| Mottled swift | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Strisores |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Apodidae |
| Genus: | Tachymarptis |
| Species: | T. aequatorialis |
| Binomial name | |
| Tachymarptis aequatorialis (von Müller, 1851) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Apus aequatorialis | |
Jali Makawa noted that the Alomwe people hunted these swifts by swirling long bamboo poles above them to swat the swifts down. Makawa and C.W. Benson tasted these birds and found them palatable.