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Grey-rumped Treeswift - BirdForum Opus

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Male with chick, subspecies harterti
Photo by SeeToh
Singapore, June 2017
Hemiprocne longipennis

Identification

A rather big (21-25cm; 8¼-9¾ in) swift-like bird

  • Glossy greenish crown, wing and mantle
  • Greyish rump
  • Greyish throat and breast
  • Whitish belly to vent
  • Prominent dark crest on forehead and blackish lores
  • Male has dark chestnut ear-coverts while female has blackish ear-coverts
  • Very long wings which cross over back when perching
  • Blackish underwing coverts

Similar Species

Female, subspecies wallacii
Photo by martinuk
Wuasa, Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia, October 2009

Similar to Crested Treeswift, but shorter tail and no white eyebrow

Distribution

South-east Asia. On the Malayan Peninsula (South Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and extreme S Myanmar) and Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi).
Quite common throughout range and not globally threatened.

Taxonomy

Forms a superspecies with Crested Treeswift Hemiprocne coronata and is sometimes considered conspecific.

Subspecues

Four subspecies recognized[1]:

  • H.l. longipennis on Java and Lombok
  • H.l. wallacii on Sulawesi and some adjacent islands
  • H.l. perlonga on islands west of Sumatra (Simeulue to Enggano)
  • H.l. harterti Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Sulu Archipelago

Habitat

Male, subspecies harterti
Photo by SeeToh
Bishan Park, Singapore, August 2015

Semi-evergreen and evergreen forest, also mangroves or mature parkland. Usually found in groves and forest edge.
From the plains up to 1200m, in Java up to 1500m.

Behaviour

Diet

Feeds on insects, catched in flight. Perches high on trees.

Breeding

Breeding season February to August in northern part of range, December to August in Java. Dispered nesting, but often other nest in the neighbourhood. Tiny nest on a tree limb with one egg, glued to nest.

Movements

Resident, no movements known.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

Recommended Citation

External Links


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