[2][3] It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, Venezuela, and possibly Ecuador.

For a time in the late 20th century viridipennis was treated as a separate species, the "Amazonian" or "Mato Grosso" swift but taxonomic systems soon returned to the previous two-subspecies model.

[6][2][7][3][8] The species' English name and specific epithet honor "that famous student of Neotropical birds, Frank M.

It has a protruding head, a short square tail, and wings that bulge in the middle and somewhat hook at the end.

Subspecies C. c. viridipennis is somewhat larger than the nominate; it has essentially the same plumage but almost no contrast between the gray rump and black back.

[8] The nominate subspecies of Chapman's swift nests in the wet season of late spring to early autumn.

[1] It is "[o]ne of [the] rarer South American swifts with few specimens or observations...precise limits of [its] breeding range [are] not well known.