This small swiftlet is endemic to the Philippines. It has a white rump band and forages near the forest canopy in Palawan.
It is slightly smaller and lighter than the other small swiftlet recorded at the same Palawan sites.
In Palawan in September 1990 it foraged near a canopy about 15–20 m high. Where trees were widely spaced, it flew a little lower around the edges of isolated trees.
It builds a half-cup nest of plant material hardened with saliva.
On 20 September 1990 in Palawan, two Pygmy Swiftlets and about 18 other small swiftlets repeatedly followed a feeding circuit about 30–40 m across in a tree-fall opening.
It has blackish upperparts and a sharply defined white rump band. The throat is brown and the mottled underparts include a whitish belly.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.