Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Crested Tree Swift at a nest.



The Crested Treeswift (Hemiprocne coronata) is a kind of tree swift. The tree swifts are aerial near passerine birds, 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 Indian 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.

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 feathers.

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