White-throated Needletail
Hirundapus caudacutus
A powerful-looking swift with long saber-shaped wings and a bullet-shaped body. The only swift in its range that combines a clean white throat and smooth pale gray back. At close range, the fine white forehead and bluish tinge to the back are also visible. Flies higher than most other swifts during migration, often circling over mountaintops and valleys with kettles of migrating birds of prey. Less erratic and bat-like in flight than other swifts. Call is a high-pitched, screaming twitter.
识别特征
The white-throated needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus), also known as the needle-tailed swift or spine-tailed swift, is a large swift in the genus Hirundapus. It is reputed to reach speeds of up to 170 km/h (110 mph) in horizontal flight, but this is unverified because the methods used to measure its speed have not been published. 75 km/h (47 mph) is more likely, but this is still at least 100 times the bird's length per second. They build their nests in rock crevices in cliffs or hollow trees. They do not like to sit on the ground and spend most of their time in the air. They feed on small, flying insects like beetles, flies, bees and moths. The white-throated needletail is a migratory bird, breeding in Central Asia and southern Siberia, and wintering south in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. It is a rare vagrant in Western Europe and has been recorded as far west as Norway, Sweden and Great Britain. In June 2013, an individual was spotted in Great Britain for the first time in 22 years. It later flew into a wind turbine and died; its body was sent to a museum. In June 2022, a bird was recovered on an expedition ship MV Ortelius near Fair Isle approx 70 miles off Duncansby Head, Caithness, Scotland and successfully released. In October 2025, a white-throated needletail was spotted at Tophill Low Nature Reserve in East Yorkshire, England. White-throated needletails are large swifts with a robust, barrel-like body. They measure about 20 cm (7.9 in) and weigh between 110 and 120 grams (3.9 and 4.2 oz). They are greyish-brown except for a white throat and a white patch, extending from the base of the tail to the flanks. Needle-tailed swifts get their name from the spined end of their tail, which is not forked as it is in the typical swifts of the genus Apus. The white-throated needletail was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Hirundo caudacuta. Their current genus Hirundapus is constructed from the names of the swallow genus Hirundo and the swift genus Apus. The specific name caudacutus comes from the Latin words cauda meaning "tail" and acutus meaning "pointed".
分类信息
Genus: Hirundapus; Family: Apodidae; Order: Apodiformes.
- 学名
- Hirundapus caudacutus
- 命名信息
- (Latham, 1801)
- 目
- Apodiformes
- 科
- Apodidae
- 属
- Hirundapus
分布与栖息地
Breeding range: PAL : Himalayas from Pakistan to s China and c Siberia to ne Russia and Japan. Non-breeding range: AU.
- 繁殖区
- PAL : Himalayas from Pakistan to s China and c Siberia to ne Russia and Japan
- 非繁殖区
- AU
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
行为
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
保护状况
Population trend: stable.
- 种群趋势
- stable
照片
分布
其他鸟类
Visayan Babbler
Sterrhoptilus nigrocapitatus
A fairly small bird of lowland and foothill forest and edge; endemic to Samar, Leyte, and Bohol, though lumped with Calabarzon Babbler under “Black-crowned Babbler” by some taxonomies. Has a gray back and cheek with fine pale streaks, dark wings and tail with white outer tail feathers, white underparts, a pale rufous throat, and a black crown. Note the slender black bill. Often joins mixed-species flocks and sometimes hangs upside down while feeding. Somewhat similar to Green-backed Whistler, especially from below, but smaller, with a pale rufous throat and a black crown. Voice includes a medium-pitched “poo piuu!” with the second note downslurred.
Ash-colored Cuckoo
Coccycua cinerea
Nondescript and retiring cuckoo with a pale ashy-brown back and pale underparts. Note the thin white tail tips and red eyering and iris. An austral migrant. Usually found in dry woodlands, scrub, savannas, gallery forests, and also in the borders of humid moist forests in the nonbreeding season. The song is a series of “cow-w cow-w cow cow” notes.
White-throated Rock-Thrush
Monticola gularis
Uncommon throughout most of its range, this elusive rock thrush breeds in rocky hill forest in northeastern China and Russia and migrates down the East Asian coast to winter in southern China and mainland Southeast Asia. Beautiful and distinctive male has a blue crown, orange underparts, and black wings marked with a bright white patch; small white patch on throat is not obvious and difficult to see. Female is brown with scaly markings on her back and breast; she lacks a pale crescent behind the eye. Usually stays low in shrubbery, but male will sing from an exposed perch.
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