Whitehead's Swiftlet Aerodramus whiteheadi Scientific name definitions

13–14 cm; 14 g (one female). Large swiftlet with massive head and deep tail-fork; black-brown upperparts with some white rami but lacking paler rump; extensive pale fringing to lores and over eye; paler brown underparts; naked tarsi. Race origenis darker above and below. No information available as to whether or not species is capable of echolocation.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Single record from Negros (Mt Kanla-on) in 1998 (1 Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson, H. C. Miranda, and T. H. Fisher (2000). A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York. Close ).

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SUBSPECIES

Aerodramus whiteheadi whiteheadi Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Mt Data, in N Luzon (N Philippines).

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SUBSPECIES

Aerodramus whiteheadi origenis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Mt Apo, Mt Kitanglad and Mt Matutum (also at unnamed locality in same province as Matutum), on Mindanao (S Philippines).

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Data Deficient. Restricted-range species: present in Luzon EBA and Mindanao and the Eastern Visayas EBA. Known from only four mountains: one on Luzon (nominate whiteheadi) and three on Mindanao (race origenis). Luzon specimens come from Mt Data in 1895, with no subsequent records. On Mindanao, known from Mt Apo in 1904 and Mts Kitanglad and Matutum in 1993; specimens taken in 1990s at an unnamed locality in S Cotabato may or may not relate to latter Mt Matutum records. Additionally, several Aerodramus caught in mist-nets at Mt Kitanglad in Feb 1997, but not positively identified, are thought probably to have been this species (2 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Close ). Population unknown. May be at risk from habitat loss; Mt Data already appears to have been deforested (2 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Close ). Clearly in need of further study. Inaccessibility of known localities and identification difficulties (even with birds in the hand) frustrate determination of conservation status (3 Butchart, S.H.M., Collar, N.J., Crosby, M.J. and Tobias, J.A. (2005). “Lost” and poorly known birds: top targets for birders in Asia. BirdingASIA. 3: 41–49. Close ).