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Difference between revisions of "Horus Swift" - BirdForum Opus

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==Habitat==
 
==Habitat==
 +
Forages aerially over over grassland, woodlans and semi-desert.
  
 
==Behaviour==
 
==Behaviour==

Revision as of 19:58, 14 April 2009

Apus horus
Photo by nkgray
Photo taken: Marievale wetland, Gauteng, South Africa

Identification

13-15 cm. Blackish with a white patch on the chin and a white rump. Forked tail.

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa. Patchily distributed in Central Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and from Uganda south to Burundi and Zaire. Wider distributed in the south (South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia).
Locally common in good habitat and not globally threatened.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies recognized:

  • A.h.fuscobrunneus in SW Angola
  • A.h.horus in the rest of its range

The form toulsoni of Zimbabwe and NW Angola is very controversial. Some authorities give full subspecies status, others believe it to be a dark morph of the nominate subspecies.

Habitat

Forages aerially over over grassland, woodlans and semi-desert.

Behaviour

It builds a flat nest of vegetation and hair, glued with saliva is built at the end of the tunnel and 1-4 eggs are laid. The eggs are incubated for 28 days to hatching, and the fledging period is about 6 weeks.

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