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FORK-TAILED SWIFT FACTS |
Description
The Fork-tailed Swift is a fairly large black swift with white rump and distinctive forked tail. The wings are long and aerodynamic, and it flies with a fluttering flight. The throat is grey. the legs are very short and mainly used for hanging on to vertical surfaces such as cliff faces. It is similar to the rarer House Swift which has square tail and more white on the throat.
Other Names
Pacific Swift
Size
17cm
Habitat
spend most of their time in the air and roost on cliffs or walls.
Food
insects which they catch in the air
Breeding
Nests on cliffs. Lays two or three white eggs. They return to the same nest site each year,
Range
the fork-tailed Swift breeds in Asia and migrates to south east Asia and Australia in winter. It can be seen in the skies over Australia.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Passeriformes | | Family: | Apodidae | | Genus: | Apus | | Species: | pacificus | | Common Name: | Fork-tailed Swift |
Relatives in same Genus
House Swift (A. affinis)
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