Swifts (Apodidae)
Horus Swift (Apus horus) - HBW 5, p. 456
French: Martinet horus
German: Horussegler
Spanish: Vencejo Horus
Other common names: Toulson’s Swift (“toulsoni”); Loanda Swift (fuscobrunneus)
Taxonomy: Cypselus affinis var. Cypselus Horus Heuglin, 1869, north-east Africa.
Taxonomic status of form “toulsoni” of NW Angola and Zimbabwe is highly controversial, and it has been considered a full species, but is probably best treated as a dark morph within nominate race. Two subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- horus (Heuglin, 1869) - C Ethiopia, CS Kenya and N Tanzania, and NW Uganda to Burundi and E Zaire; Zambia to SW Cape (South Africa); more isolated populations in Nigeria, N Cameroon, W Chad, W & EC Sudan, extreme W Zaire and NW Angola.
- fuscobrunneus Brooke, 1971 - SW Angola.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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An adult in flight including a brief display posture Locality De Hoop Nature Reserve, Western Cape Province, South Africa (ssp horus)
Greg Baker 2 October 2002 33 weeks ago 24 sec 3.7
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a bird overhead
Locality Lake Langano, Oromia Region, Ethiopia (ssp horus)
Stefan Helming 27 June 2009 3 years ago 3.5 -
Bird in flight
Locality Polokwane (Pietersburg), Limpopo Province, South Africa
jmdebruyn 7 April 2012 49 weeks ago 3.1
- No sound recordings available yet
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