(Collocalia marginata) Ridgetop swiftlet (Collocalia isonota) Tenggara swiftlet (Collocalia sumbawae) Drab swiftlet (Collocalia neglecta) Satin swiftlet (Collocalia uropygialis) Christmas Island swiftlet (Collocalia natalis) Description This bird is shiny black-blue above, including its rump; sometimes looks black and hooded. Chest black; belly to flanks white with fine black speckles at margins. Wing tips are rounded; underwing is black. Tail rounded with shallow notch and tiny white panels. It is so similar to the white-rumped swiftlet that both its upperparts and underparts must be seen to distinguish between the two. It is in length. Its voice is a soft twittering. Behaviour The glossy swiftlet nests inside caves and buildings, creating a nest on a vertical or under a horizontal surface by secreting a sticky gel and attaching a kind of string-like grass to the surface. It is seen flying over forests, streams, rivers and roads catching insects in flight. Glossy swiftlets have been considered as possible foster parents for restoring the population of the endangered edible-nest swiftlet in the Andaman Islands. Distribution The glossy swiftlet is known from Indonesia, Timor, Brunei, Christmas Island, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It is a vagrant to Australia. It is not a migrant. Status The glossy swiftlet is reported as being abundant in at least part of the range. It faces no particular threats, and as a result, the IUCN has listed it as being of "Least Concern". References glossy swiftlet Birds of Malesia Birds of Melanesia glossy swiftlet glossy swiftlet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot