Fork-tailed Swift

Apus pacificusOrder: APODIFORMES Family: Swifts (Apodidae)

Codes: Common Name: FTSW Scientific Name: APUPAC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178008

Fork-tailed Swift Breeding Male Small Portrait

Related Birds

Common House-Martin

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Overview

Fork-tailed Swift: Large swift, brown-black overall with white throat and rump, scaled belly, and long, deeply forked tail. Bill is black, legs and feet are gray-black. Rapid flight on stiff, quickly beating swept-back wings, alternating with gliding flight. Catches insects midflight.

Range and Habitat

Fork-tailed Swift: A rare vagrant in western Europe, but has been recorded as far west as Norway and Great Britain; spends winters south to Australia. Casual to rare summer visitor on the western Aleutians and Pribilof islands of Alaska. Preferred habitats include mountains and human habitations, usually near water.

Topo Map: Swallow-like Body

Voice Text

"chree-chree-chree-chree-chree", "spee-err"

Interesting Facts

The Fork-tailed Swift is also known as the Pacific Swift and Neotropical Palm Swift.

These birds have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. The scientific name comes from the Greek apous, meaning "without feet." They never settle voluntarily on the ground.

This swift is superficially similar to a House Martin, however it is completely unrelated to those passerine species, since swifts are in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles.

A group of swifts are collectively known as a "box", "flock", "screaming frenzy", and "swoop" of swifts.

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Author

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Artist

Irina Rud-Volga

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Fork-tailed Swift

● Song: "chree-chree-chree-chree-chree", "spee-err"

● Foraging & Feeding: Fork-tailed Swift: Feeds on insects; forages in flight.

● Breeding & nesting: Fork-tailed Swift: Two to three white eggs are laid in a nest made of grass, moss, and leaves, glued together with sticky saliva, and built on a cliff ridge or under a roof crevice; usually nests near water. Incubation ranges from 19 to 22 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Fork-tailed Swift: Other swifts lack deeply forked tail.

Flight Pattern

Rapid dashing flight on stiff rapidly beating swept-back wings, alternating with gliding flight.

Fork-tailed Swift Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Fork-tailed Swift: A rare vagrant in western Europe, but has been recorded as far west as Norway and Great Britain; spends winters south to Australia. Casual to rare summer visitor on the western Aleutians and Pribilof islands of Alaska. Preferred habitats include mountains and human habitations, usually near water.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationCasual to rare

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.7 Ounces

Swallow-like Body

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America