White-collared Swift

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Apodidae
Genus:	Streptoprocne
Species:	S. zonaris

Binomial name

Streptoprocne zonaris
(Shaw, 1796)

The White-collared Swift, Streptoprocne zonaris, is a resident breeding bird from central Mexico, the Greater Antilles and Trinidad south to Peru, northern Argentina and southeastern Brazil.

This very large swift builds a saucer nest of mud, moss and chitin on a ledge in a cave, usually behind a waterfall, and lays two white eggs between March and July. It breeds in the mountains and foothills, but forages over a much larger area, including lowlands.

White-collared Swift is a massive and powerful species, 20-22 cm long, and weighing 90-96 g. It has a very slightly forked tail, which often appears square. The adults are black, glossed blue on the back, and have a white collar, broader and duller on the breast than the hindneck. Young birds are duller than adults, and the collar is reduced or absent. This noisy swift has a screeching chee-yar! call, which may be given in chorus by a flock

This is a highly gregarious species, with flocks of 100 or more birds, and often in company with other swift species. It has a powerful, fast and direct flight, and will ascend thermals to great heights.

White-collared Swift feeds in flight on flying insects, including beetles, bees and flying ants.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Streptoprocne zonaris. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Chantler and Driessens, Swifts ISBN 1-873403-83-6
ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
Hilty, Birds of Venezuela, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4