Crested Treeswift
Encyclopedia
The Crested Treeswift is a kind of tree swift. The tree swifts are aerial near passerine
bird
s, closely related to, but distinct from the true swifts
. They are restricted to southeast Asia
and Australasia
.
The Crested Treeswift is a common resident breeder from the India
n subcontinent east to Thailand
. It was formerly considered conspecific with its eastern relative, the Grey-rumped Treeswift
(Hemiprocne longipennis), but they do not interbreed where their ranges overlap.
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These are birds of open woodland and forests. The Crested Treeswift builds a tiny nest
which is glued to an exposed tree branch. It lays one blue-grey egg
, which is incubated by both sexes. The nest is so small that incubating birds perch upright on the edge of the nest, covering the egg with their underparts feather
s.
The Crested Treeswift is a large slender bird at 23 cm length. This species is dove grey above and white below. The long swept-back wings are a darker grey above. This treeswift has a crest and a long, deeply-forked tail. The adult male has orange sides to its face. Young birds have a dark grey head and wings, but the rest of the soft plumage is much streakier than that of the adults.
The Crested Treeswift feeds in the air, living on the insects it catches in its bill. It looks more like a swallow in flight than a swift, but is unrelated to that group. Unlike the true swifts, the treeswifts readily rest on high bare tree branches.
The call of this species is a harsh kee-kyew.
Near passerine
Near passerine or higher land-bird assemblage are terms often given to arboreal birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines due to ecological similarities; the group corresponds to some extent with the Anomalogonatae of Garrod All near passerines are land birds...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, closely related to, but distinct from the true swifts
Swift
The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are actually not closely related to passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds...
. They are restricted to southeast Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
.
The Crested Treeswift is a common resident breeder from the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n subcontinent east to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. It was formerly considered conspecific with its eastern relative, the Grey-rumped Treeswift
Grey-rumped Treeswift
The Grey-rumped Treeswift is a species of bird in the Hemiprocnidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand....
(Hemiprocne longipennis), but they do not interbreed where their ranges overlap.
Bird nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...
which is glued to an exposed tree branch. It lays one blue-grey egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
, which is incubated by both sexes. The nest is so small that incubating birds perch upright on the edge of the nest, covering the egg with their underparts feather
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
s.
The Crested Treeswift is a large slender bird at 23 cm length. This species is dove grey above and white below. The long swept-back wings are a darker grey above. This treeswift has a crest and a long, deeply-forked tail. The adult male has orange sides to its face. Young birds have a dark grey head and wings, but the rest of the soft plumage is much streakier than that of the adults.
The Crested Treeswift feeds in the air, living on the insects it catches in its bill. It looks more like a swallow in flight than a swift, but is unrelated to that group. Unlike the true swifts, the treeswifts readily rest on high bare tree branches.
The call of this species is a harsh kee-kyew.