Chimney Swift - Taxonomy and Systematics

Taxonomy and Systematics

When he first described the Chimney Swift in 1758, Carl Linnaeus named it Hirundo pelagica, believing it to be a swallow. This misconception continued well into the 1800s, with ornithologists calling it "American Swallow" (e.g. Mark Catesby) or "Chimney Swallow" (e.g. John James Audubon). In 1825, James Francis Stephens moved this and other small, short-tailed New World swifts to the genus Chaetura, where it has since remained, although some authorities in the 1800s assigned it to a variety of now obsolete genera. It has no subspecies. The Chimney Swift's closest relative is the Vaux's Swift. Scientists believe that the two species evolved from a common ancestor which was forced to the continent's southeast and southwest corners by glacial advances. Separated for centuries by vast ice sheets, the survivors evolved into two species which are still separated by a wide gap across the continent's midsection.

The Chimney Swift's genus name, Chaetura, is a combination of two Greek words: chaite, which means "bristle" or "spine", and oura which means "tail". This is an apt description of the bird's tail, as the shafts of all ten tail feathers (rectrices) end in sharp, protruding points. The specific name pelagica is derived from the Greek word pelagikos, which means "of the sea". This is thought to be a reference to its nomadic lifestyle rather than to any reference to the sea, a theory strengthened by the later assignment of the specific name pelasgia (after the nomadic Pelasgi tribe of ancient Greece) to the same species by other ornithologists. Its common name refers to its preferred nesting site and its speedy flight.