It has two subspecies which are occasionally regarded as two separate species: A. t. terraereginae and A. t. chillagoensis (Chillagoe swiftlet).

A. t. terraereginae occurs in tropical north-east Queensland from the Claudie River on the Cape York Peninsula south as far as the Eungella Range near Mackay.

A. t. chillagoensis is found further inland in the area around Chillagoe, west of the Great Dividing Range.

It is translucent and basket-shaped and made from saliva mixed with grasses, casuarina needles, twigs and feathers.

It generally feeds within 30 kilometres (19 mi) of the breeding colony, leaving the nest for periods of about 30 minutes to hunt.