Collocalia is a genus of swifts, containing some of the smaller species termed "swiftlets". Formerly a catch-all genus for these, a number of its former members are now normally (though not by all authors) placed in Aerodramus.
The genus Collocalia was introduced by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1854.[1][2] The name Collocalia combines the classical Greek words kolla meaning "glue" and kalia for "nest".[3]
The genus previously contained fewer species. Seven subspecies of the glossy swiftlet were promoted to species status based on a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus Collocalia published in 2017.[4][5]
An Early Miocene fossil swiftlet from the Riversleigh deposits of Australia was described as Collocalia buday.[6] This as well as a right ulna (MNZ S42799) found at the Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group near the Manuherikia River in Otago, New Zealand. Dating from the Early to Middle Miocene (Altonian, 19-16 million years ago),[7] probably belongs to Aerodramus.