White-collared swift facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White-collared swift |
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| Streptoprocne zonaris altissima Los Nevados, Colombia |
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Streptoprocne
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zonaris
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The white-collared swift (Streptoprocne zonaris) is a super-fast bird found in many parts of the Americas. It lives in places like Mexico, the Caribbean islands, Trinidad, and most countries in South America. These amazing birds are known for their incredible flying skills and their distinctive white "collar" around their neck. They spend most of their lives in the air, even eating and sometimes sleeping while flying!
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About the White-Collared Swift
The white-collared swift is a type of bird in the swift family, called Apodidae. Scientists have divided this bird into nine different kinds, or subspecies. These subspecies are slightly different from each other, perhaps in the color of their feathers or the size of their white collar.
What Does a White-Collared Swift Look Like?
The white-collared swift is the biggest swift in most places where it lives. It is about 20 to 21.5 centimeters (8 to 8.5 inches) long. It weighs between 90 and 125 grams (3.2 to 4.4 ounces). Its wings can spread out wide, from 45 to 55 centimeters (18 to 22 inches).
This bird has a tail that is only slightly forked, meaning it has a small V-shape at the end. Both male and female swifts look the same. Adults have a clear white band around their neck, which looks like a collar. This collar is widest on their chest. Their forehead is dark, and most of their head is a dark sooty black. Their tail is grayish black, and the rest of their body is black. Their back and rump have a slight blue shine.
Young white-collared swifts are not as bright as adults. They are duller and have grayish-white tips on most of their body feathers. The different subspecies can have small differences in how wide their white collar is, the exact shade of black on their body, and how much white is on their young feathers.
Where Do White-Collared Swifts Live?
White-collared swifts live in many different places across the Americas. You can find them from southern Mexico all the way down to Argentina and Brazil. They also live on many Caribbean islands.
These birds like a wide range of environments. They are most often seen flying over mountain forests and other types of evergreen forests. They also live over forests that have grown back after being cut down, and in more open areas like scrublands. You can find them from lowlands up to very high places, sometimes as high as 3,600 meters (about 11,800 feet) above sea level!
Sometimes, these swifts fly far from their usual homes. They have been seen in places like Texas and Florida in the United States.
Who Preys on White-Collared Swifts?
Not many animals are known to hunt white-collared swifts. One animal that does is the Virginia opossum. Opossums sometimes raid swift nests and eat the young birds. Also, peregrine falcons are known to wait near the entrances of swift colonies. They catch the swifts as they fly in or out of their nests.
White-Collared Swift Behavior
Movement and Travel
White-collared swifts usually stay in the same area all year. However, they sometimes travel to lower places when the weather is bad. They have also been seen much further north than their normal range.
Feeding Habits
Like all swifts, the white-collared swift catches and eats insects while flying. We don't know all the details of what they eat. But, some studies have shown that they mostly eat flying ants. They often feed in large groups of 200 or more birds. Sometimes, other swift species join these groups.
White-collared swifts are very strong and fast flyers. They can fly straight and quickly. They often fly high up, using warm air currents to gain height. These birds can fly at speeds of 70 to 100 kilometers per hour (about 43 to 62 miles per hour) or even faster!
Reproduction and Life Cycle
White-collared swifts build their nests in colonies, usually inside caves. These caves often have a stream or are located behind a waterfall. They build their nests on ledges or in small spaces, sometimes right behind a waterfall.
Their nests are flat and round. They are made from materials like mud, moss, and parts of insect shells. The inside of the nest is lined with leaves or fern fronds. The materials used can be different depending on the colony. Nests have been measured to be about 120 to 170 millimeters (4.7 to 6.7 inches) wide. They are about 30 to 90 millimeters (1.2 to 3.5 inches) deep.
Female swifts usually lay two eggs. We don't know how long it takes for the eggs to hatch or for the young birds to be ready to fly. However, young swifts become independent about 45 to 55 days after they hatch.
Sounds and Calls
The white-collared swift makes different sounds. People have described their calls as a "nasal twitter of chee chee chee, whiss whiss." They also make "scratchy but not shrill tseet, tchee, and chirrio notes." When many swifts are together, they might call at the same time. When a group of swifts flies down quickly, like into a valley, they make an "impressive swooshing rush of air."
Conservation Status
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has looked at the white-collared swift. They have decided that this bird is of "Least Concern." This means they are not worried about it becoming endangered soon. The bird lives in a very large area, and there are at least five million adult swifts. Even though the number of swifts seems to be going down, there are no immediate threats that scientists have found. People are not known to be harming their populations.
