Brown-backed Needletail
Encyclopedia
The Brown-backed Needletail (Hirundapus giganteus), or Brown Needletail, is a large swift
.
These birds have very short legs which they use only mainly for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground and spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks.
These swifts are resident breeders in hill forests in southern Asia
from India
east to Indonesia
and the Philippines
.
They build their nests in rock crevices in cliffs, laying 3-5 eggs. The flight is impressively fast, even compared to other swifts.
The Brown-backed Needletail is a very large swift, and at 23cm is bigger than the Alpine Swift
and the White-throated Needletail
. It has a similar build to the latter species, with a heavy barrel-like body. They are dark brown except for a white undertail, which extends on to the flanks.
The Hirundapus
needletailed swifts get their name from the spiny end to the tail, which is not forked as in the Apus
typical swifts.
Swift
The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are actually not closely related to passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds...
.
These birds have very short legs which they use only mainly for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground and spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks.
These swifts are resident breeders in hill forests in southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
east to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
They build their nests in rock crevices in cliffs, laying 3-5 eggs. The flight is impressively fast, even compared to other swifts.
The Brown-backed Needletail is a very large swift, and at 23cm is bigger than the Alpine Swift
Alpine Swift
The Alpine Swift syn. is a species of Swift. The bird is superficially similar to a large Barn Swallow or House Martin. It is, however, completely unrelated to those passerine species, since swifts are in the order Apodiformes...
and the White-throated Needletail
White-throated Needletail
The White-throated Needletail , also known as Needle-tailed Swift or Spine-tailed Swift, is a large swift. It is the fastest-flying bird in flapping flight, being capable of speeds up to 170 km/h ....
. It has a similar build to the latter species, with a heavy barrel-like body. They are dark brown except for a white undertail, which extends on to the flanks.
The Hirundapus
Hirundapus
Hirundapus is a genus of swift in the Apodidae family.It contains the following species:* White-throated Needletail * Purple Needletail * Silver-backed Needletail...
needletailed swifts get their name from the spiny end to the tail, which is not forked as in the Apus
Apus (genus)
The bird genus Apus comprise some of the Old World members of the family Apodidae, commonly known as swifts.They are among the fastest birds in the world. They resemble swallows, to which they are not related, but have shorter tails and sickle-shaped wings...
typical swifts.