Great swallow-tailed swift facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Great swallow-tailed swift |
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Panyptila
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| Species: |
sanctihieronymi
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The great swallow-tailed swift (Panyptila sanctihieronymi) is a super speedy bird! It's a type of bird that belongs to the swift family. You can find this amazing bird in countries like Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
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About the Great Swallow-tailed Swift
What's in a Name?
This swift is part of the Panyptila group. It's related to its cousin, the lesser swallow-tailed swift. The great swallow-tailed swift is a "monotypic" species. This means it's the only one of its kind in its specific group.
How to Spot One
The great swallow-tailed swift is about 18 to 20.5 cm (7.1 to 8.1 in) long. That's about the length of a ruler! It weighs around 48 g (1.7 oz). This bird has long, narrow wings. It also has a long tail that looks deeply forked, like a swallow's tail.
Both male and female swifts look alike. Adults have a black top of the head and upper face. They have two small white spots on their forehead. Most of their body is a pretty bluish-black color. Their lower face, throat, and upper chest are white. Even their sides are white! Their flight feathers have grayish ends and white tips.
Where They Live
You can find the great swallow-tailed swift in western Mexico. Their range goes south through Guatemala and Honduras. It reaches into northern Nicaragua. There have also been a few sightings in Costa Rica.
These birds usually live in dry or semi-dry highland areas. They love places with canyons and big cliffs. They typically live at heights between 1,000 and 2,000 m (3,300 and 6,600 ft). Sometimes, they might fly to humid areas as low as 600 m (2,000 ft).
Swift Behavior
Movement and Travel
The great swallow-tailed swift usually stays in its home area all year. However, some birds might travel to Costa Rica. This happens outside of their breeding season.
What They Eat
Like all swifts, this bird catches insects while flying. They are called "aerial insectivores." They usually hunt alone or in small groups of their own kind. Scientists don't know all the details about what they eat.
Reproduction and Nests
The great swallow-tailed swift builds a special nest. It's shaped like a tube, about 40 to 60 cm (16 to 24 in) long. They make it from soft seed fluff and feathers. They stick it all together with their saliva.
The nest has an entrance near the bottom. The eggs are laid on a shelf inside, near the top. They hang their nests from the underside of overhanging rocks. We don't know how many eggs they lay. But it's thought to be two or three, like the lesser swallow-tailed swift. Not much else is known about how they raise their young.
How They Communicate
The great swallow-tailed swift makes different sounds. One call is a sad, two-part sound like "teeuw, teeuw." They also make a reedy chattering sound, like "kri-kri-kri-kri-kreeuw-kreee."
Conservation Status
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has looked at the great swallow-tailed swift. They have listed it as a species of "Least Concern." This means it's not currently in danger of disappearing.
The bird lives across a large area. There are an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 adult birds. However, this number is thought to be going down. No immediate dangers have been found for them. Some experts think it's one of the rarer swifts. But it seems to be common in places like Honduras.
