Alternative names: Needle-tailed Swift or Spine-tailed Swift
Includes: Himalayan Needletail
- Hirundapus caudacutus
Identification
19–20 cm (7½-7¾ in.)
- overall plumage dark brown
- mantle paler: pale brown or whitish
- throat white
- lores white or brown (nudipes)
- undertail white extending forwards on to the flanks
- end to the tail spiny
- wings long, curved
Distribution
Central Asia and southern Siberia, wintering south to Australia.
Taxonomy
Reference [3] suggests plumage differences mean subspecies nudipes may best be split as "Himalayan Needletail".
Subspecies
Clements recognises the following subspecies [1]:
- H. c. caudacutus: Siberia to Japan and Kuril Islands.; winters to Australia. [white lores, distinct pale/whitish mantle]
- H. c. nudipes: Himalayas to southwest China; winters to India and Myanmar. [brown lores, indistinctly pale mantle, upperparts blue glossed]
Habitat
Wooded lowlands and hills with little vegetation. In the Himalayas they occur at around 1250–4000 m.
Behaviour
Breeding
They build their platform stick nests in rock crevices in cliffs or hollow trees.
Diet
Their diet consists of insects which are caught in the air.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2019)
- Eaton, JA, B van Balen, NW Brickle, FE Rheindt 2021. Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago (Greater Sundas and Wallacea), Second Edition. Lynx Editions. ISBN978-84-16728-44-2
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-throated Needletail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-throated_Needletail
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
