Vaux's Swift
Chaetura vauxi
Swifts (Apodidae) · Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Play a quiz with Vaux's Swift and similar species
View all photos, video and sound
Review needed
Birdr is a community-driven project, and many photos still need a human check. If you know this bird, you can help by reviewing its images.
Often mixed up with
In quizzes, players most often confuse Vaux's Swift with these birds— either this species was picked by mistake, or the other way around.
| Species | Mix-ups |
|---|---|
| Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica | 10 |
| Black Swift Cypseloides niger | 2 |
| White-throated Swift Aeronautes saxatalis | 2 |
| Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus | 1 |
| White-collared Swift Streptoprocne zonaris | 1 |
Family
The Apodidae, or swifts, form a family of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are not closely related to any passerine species. Swifts are placed in the order Apodiformes along with hummingbirds.
Order
The Apodiformes is an order, or taxonomic grouping, of birds which traditionally contained three living families—the Apodidae (swifts), the Hemiprocnidae (treeswifts), and the Trochilidae (hummingbirds); however, in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, this order is elevated to the superorder Apodimorphae, in which hummingbirds are separated into a new order, the Trochiliformes. With nearly 450 species identified to date, it is the most diverse order of birds after the Passeriformes (the "perching" birds).