The Greyrummped Tree Swift grows to be 5.8-11.5 in. or 15-30 cm long/wide. The back feathers of this bird are a dark brown with blue and green. The underbelly is more of a blue/grey. Their habitats are in lowland forests,(you wouldn’t find them in the mountains), river edges, open grassland, croplands, and savannahs.

 

They would need trees for nesting and rests because their small foot does not allow them to grip large branches. Some characteristics of the Hemiprocne longipennis are their long narrow wings shaped as a boomerang, and their deeply forked tail. Also their harsh chatters and screams.

 

These birds are found in countries Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and are vagrant in the Philippians. There are more than 200,000 birds of this species. This species in not going extinct, but growing.

 

These birds hunt for insects of all kind and possibly spiders. Usually hunting at dawn and dusk to beat the “crowd”.  They compete with other birds there size, such as finches and other swifts.  

 

They breed in March. Their nest hugs the egg and barely holds it. It is attached to the side of a branch. The nest is made of twigs, grass, moss, their own feathers, and the birds saliva to hold it together. Both sexes help incubate the egg by covering the egg with the pad of its claw, NOT by sitting on it. Their eggs are small, brown, and speckled. They nest in fairly high trees up to 13 to 60 feet of the ground. The female can only lay one egg at a time, but can mate many times.

I have learned about their nesting habits, such as not sitting on the egg, habitats for where they must be around and even what time they feed. I now know that this species is far from going extinct and their population may even grow. I have also learned these birds are fairly small, but cover a large range.

 

Author: Kristen M.

Published: 3/2010

   

WWW.IUCN.com – Febuary/18/2010

WWW.Wikapedia_HemmiprocneLongapennis.com –Febuary/10/2010

Picture credit: WWW.ysdw.net/dispbbs.asp?boardID=12&ID=1047 –Febuary/18/2010