The Black Swift is a beautiful small bird belonging to the swift family and the genus of swifts. It is also called the tower swift. Where dwells, hibernates and what eats? What is the main feature of the shear? About this and much more - below.
Description
In swift birds, the body length reaches 18 centimeters in length, and the wingspan is 40 cm. The length of one wing is from 16 centimeters, the tail is forked - 17 cm. In birds, the usual plumage on the tail is dark brown with a slight green metallic tint. The legs of the black swift are short and strong. They have four fingers with sharp claws. This bird weighs only thirty-five grams, but it is perfectly adapted to the environment, despite its size, lives a long time - 25 years or more.
The peculiarities of this particular type of swift include the unusual ability to drink, eat, mate and even sleep in flight. Swift is very hardy: it can spend in the air for a long time without landing on the surface.
Features
Among the close relatives of the swifts is a hummingbird bird. One of the features of the swift is the scream that it emits. This sound is very loud and long in time. The most active swifts in the evening. The age of the bird can be determined by the color of the feathers. In young individuals, it is pale, in adults - dark with blue and green tints. The older the bird, the blacker the feathers. The legs of the swift are brown, short. The feathered person spends most of his life in the air, because after landing it will be difficult for him to push off and take off.
A swift can fly faster than an airplane, but the falcon has the primary fall speed. If a bird accidentally lands on a balcony to a person, then it will not be able to fly by itself, and it will crawl on a horizontal surface. Swifts are faithful birds. They choose a partner for life. Birds equip their nest together, annually return there. They have nests located high on trees, rocks, in caves. The chicks of these birds are beautiful.
Appearance
The black swift looks very much like a swallow. A distinctly small round white spot is visible on the chin and throat. The eyes are dark brown, the beak is black, the legs are light brown or brown. The beak of a bird is short, but with a wide oral cut. Females and males are no different in appearance; the only thing is that the feathers are light in young individuals, the bordering is off-white. In the summer, feathers burn out even more in the sun.
If you look at the photo, the swift looks like a dove. This bird screams loudly in the spring, so if it lives in cities, it causes a lot of discomfort to others. The most common types of swifts include white-bellied, black, mustachioed, palm, needle-tailed.
Habitat
Black Swift is common in Europe. It can be found in Africa and Asia. Swift is a migratory bird, but prefers to nest in countries of Asia and Europe, where the climate is milder. Swift is one of the few species that prefers to settle in large cities in colonies, which is why urban residents can often observe massive flights in the sky. Most often, swifts circle near the last floors of high-rise buildings. Initially, black individuals chose a different habitat - these were mountains and rocks with dense vegetation. The bird also prefers to settle closer to humans and ponds.
In the temperate climate zone, swifts are as comfortable as possible. In spring and summer there are many insects, so there is something to eat. When autumn colds come, swifts fly away to winter in southern Africa. Black individuals are found in North Asia and eastern Europe. In Siberia, birds prefer to settle where there are pine forests. Many swifts in large cities: Kaliningrad, Kiev, St. Petersburg, Dushanbe.
Wintering and lifestyle
Swift is a bird that prefers to winter in warm places, and with the onset of heat it always returns to its homeland. Swifts are noisy and noisy; they like to fly not alone, but in packs. Birds spend most of their lives in flight. They make frequent flapping wings, fly fast. The peculiarity of the view is the ability to carry out planning flights. When weather permits, birds in the air compete with each other, making sharp turns and making a loud cry.
A black swift is a species whose characteristic feature is the lack of ability to walk on the ground. However, they can cling to steep cliffs and vertical walls thanks to strong and strong paws.
At what speed do they fly?
What is the speed of a black swift? This bird is a speed record holder. She is not only very fast, but also hardy. An adult swift flies at a speed of 110-120 km / h, even faster than a swallow. The appearance of the swift is directly dependent on the speed of movement. The eyes are covered with feathers, which protect them during the flight. The Black Swift bird is recognized as the fastest on the planet, and its lifestyle depends on the weather. The peculiarity of the swift is the love of freedom. She spends her whole life in the sky, almost never falling to the ground. Ornithologists recorded the highest swift speed - 170 km / h. They usually develop it in horizontal flight. Swift can neither walk nor swim, as the legs are too short. The bird prefers to sit on rocks, wires, poles, trees, clinging to the surface with sharp claws.
Diet
Judging by the description of the black swift, it is a small but very strong bird. The basis of her diet is insects, insects, spiders. To find food, she spends a lot of time in the air, flying from place to place. In bad weather, swifts are forced to fly huge distances in order to get their own food. The peculiarity of the bird is the destruction of pests (moths, mosquitoes). That is why the bird prefers to settle in megacities. Pillars, trees, tall buildings become her lodging for the night. Swift is so hardy that it can soar all night in the air and doze off. Adult individuals rise to a height of three kilometers, and can also lose a third of their mass without damage to health.
Breeding
This is not to say that the black swift breeds where it hibernates. The bird arranges a family nest in the warm season - this is April-May. Swifts choose their mate in flight, mate in the same place, and get various materials for building a nest. It can be branches, down, feathers, grass, straws. They build a nest using salivary secretion, which has adhesive properties. The shape of the nest resembles a small bowl. At the end of May, the female lays several eggs, hatches them in turn with the male for three weeks. Chicks are born without plumage, but gradually a fluff appears on their body.
Chicks live in the nest for 1.5 months. A feature of young black swifts is the ability to hibernate (vital indicators slow down) if the parents are not around for a long time. The diet of the chicks is made up of insects. When young individuals fly away from the nest, they no longer return. Birds go to warm places in the fall, live there for several years. Then they fly home to grow their offspring.
