White-throated Needletail

These birds have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. They build their nests in rock crevices in cliffs or hollow trees. 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.

The White-throated Needletail is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The White-throated Needletail is a mid sized bird, similar in size to Alpine Swift, but a quite different build, with a heavier barrel-like body. They are black except for a white throat, white undertail, which extends on to the flanks, and a somewhat paler brown back. The Hirundapus needletailed swifts get their name from the spiny end to the tail, which is not forked as in the Apus typical swifts. References - 1. More

The conservation rating for the White-throated Needletail is Least Concern. More

White-throated Needletail in flight. White-throated Needletail in flight. Photo: A Bridger © OzBirds Distribution map of Hirundapus caudacutus Distribution map of Hirundapus caudacutus Map © Birds Australia Birdata Did you know? White-throated Needletails are able to fly at great speeds of up to 130 km per hour. More

The White-throated Needletail is a large swift, length 20cm/8in, that visits eastern Australia in the southern summer. It’s main claim to fame is that, in level flight, it is one of the fastest, perhaps the fastest, bird in the world with a claimed top speed of 170km/105miles per hour. (The Peregrine Falcon can reach supposedly 300km/200miles per hour in a dive, but that’s a different event in the avian Olympics. More

White-throated Needletails are often difficult to count, especially in large flocks in which individual birds spiral at high speed from the periphery to the centre and outwards again. Counts of more than40 or 50 tend to be estimates. Even so, a very obvious difference in abundance exists between years. Needletails were reported each year but numbers vary greatly. Particularly high numbers were reported during 1981-82 and 1982-83 and lowest in 1983-84. R=53. More

Euro News: White-throated Needletail yesterday at Vesitorni, Finland; flew north over Savitaipale show section Past records (10) This species has been reported in the following areas (Bird News Extra subscribers can click a county name for more details): Cork Derbys Essex Hants Kent N Yorks Orkney Shetland Staffs W Yorks show section Products featuring White-throated More

White-throated Needletail, are amongst the fastest flyers in the animal kingdom. Even the common swift (Apus apus) cruises at 5 to 14 metres per second (18-50kph, 11-31mph) and is capable of 60 metres per second (216kph, 134mph) for short bursts(sources needed). In a single year the common swift can cover at least 200,000km. One group, the Swiftlets or Cave Swiftlets have developed a form of echolocation for navigating through dark cave systems where they roost. More

Can a Peregrine Falcon catch a White-throated Needletail in flapping flight? = Do peregrine falcons hunt white-throated needletails? Can they catch them? * 5 months ago Report Abuse nurnord by nurnord Member since: November 11, 2006 Total points: 11537 (Level 6) * Add to My Contacts More

White-throated Needletail in flight. Photo: A Bridger ©... More

White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus caudacutus - In flight White-throated Needletail Photographer : More