Cook's Swift
Apus cooki
Large dark swift with long sickle-shaped wings and a forked tail, which is often kept closed in a needle-tipped point while in flight. Black overall with an ashy gray throat and a thin white rump. Distinguished from needletails by proportionally longer wings, longer and more slender body, and much longer tail. Closely related Pacific Swift has a broader and brighter rump patch and a whiter throat. Faint greenish gloss on the back is diagnostic but difficult to see. Like other "fork-tailed swifts", usually seen in flight over hills, forests, and open areas. Gives high thin notes as well as a grating trills. Breeds in limestone caves.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Apus cooki
- Authority
- (Harington, 1913)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Apodidae
- Genus
- Apus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- OR : lowland Myanmar, n Thailand, Vietnam and Guangxi, China
- Non-breeding range
- Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand
Photos
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Cyprus Wheatear
Oenanthe cypriaca
Striking small wheatear. Males are black and white with some dark markings on central crown and often buff or even brighter orange underparts. Females are almost as dark as males with dark brown and warm tones. Endemic breeder to Cyprus, where it breeds in holes and crevices in a variety of habitats. During migration, found in open, scrubby habitats. Winters in open habitats with sparse vegetation. Smaller and more delicate than similar Pied Wheatear. Song is a remarkable series of high-pitched buzzing notes. Call is a dry “chek, chek.”
Afghan Babbler
Argya huttoni
Slender, dusty-colored babbler with a long tail. Look for its contrasting white throat and streaked crown and back. Found in dry open areas such as semidesert, scrubland, and various edge habitats. Rummages about on the ground in mid-sized to large flocks. Gives a clear, musical, purring series of notes, either ascending or descending, as well as harsher, scratchier calls.
Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush
Monticola rufiventris
An upright bird of montane forests. Male is dark blue above and orange below, with a dark face. Female looks completely different: gray-brown with boldly scaled underparts and a whitish crescent behind the ear. Female White-throated Rock Thrush is similar, but browner, with a spotted back and no pale ear crescent. Usually seen in pairs, perched quietly on a rock or exposed branch at canopy level. Song is a series of buzzy whistles; most common call is a distincive low, harsh scratching noise.
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