Tachornis phoenicobia
Silhouette: Aviceda (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The Antillean palm swift (Tachornis phoenicobia) is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found on the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola (shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti).
The Antillean palm swift is 9 to 11 cm (3.5 to 4.3 in) long and weighs about 9 to 11 g (0.32 to 0.39 oz). It has long narrow wings and a medium length forked tail. The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark sooty brown crown and nape. Their back, a narrow center strip of the rump, uppertail coverts, and tail are sooty black to black. The sides of their rump are white. Their wings are sooty blackish with pale edges on the flight feathers. Most of their face is grayish brown. Their underparts are mostly dull white; their flanks, a narrow band across the breast, and undertail coverts are dark sooty brown. Immatures are similar to adults, but their underparts are an even duller white, and the flanks and undertail coverts a paler sooty brown.
The subspecies T.... Wikipedia →
Flight call0:40
Dominican Republic · 2009
© Jesse Fagan · XC34890 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5
Recording0:10
Dominican Republic · 2026
© kaysenawesome · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:12
Dominican Republic · 2023
© Christopher Rustay · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Haitises National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 2 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 3 | Jaragua National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 4 | Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park | 🇯🇲 Jamaica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 2 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba |
Very likely
About 80% of wildlife watchers report an Antillean Palm Swift sighting in Santo Domingo on a given day, based on 1,156 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 6th most-seen of the 110 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and July
In those months about 90% of wildlife watchers report an Antillean Palm Swift in Santo Domingo on a given day, against about 60% in December, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Antillean Palm Swift sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Antillean Palm Swift sightings, Santo Domingo has the highest daily chance: about 80%. Next come Havana (Cuba, about 60%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Antillean Palm Swift is recorded against all the birds logged in Santo Domingo (1,156 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
