The glossy swiftlet was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Hirundo esculenta.

They were raised to species status based on a detailed analysis of the swiftlets in the genus Collocalia published in 2017.

[6] The promoted taxa are:[5] This bird is shiny black-blue above, including its rump; sometimes looks black and hooded.

[7] The glossy swiftlet nests inside caves and buildings, creating a nest on a vertical or under a horizontal surface by secreting a sticky gel and attaching a kind of string-like grass to the surface.

[8] It is seen flying over forests, streams, rivers and roads catching insects in flight.