Silver-backed Needletail Hirundapus cochinchinensis Scientific name definitions

Patchily distributed across South-East Asia, the rather poorly known Silver-backed Needletail was previously considered conspecific with the White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus. Unlike the latter, this species does not migrate such long distances, it wintering no further south than Java, but not all of the Silver-backed Needletail’s non-breeding grounds are perhaps known. It is also true that the two species can be difficult to distinguish in less-than-perfect views; Silver-backed Needletail and White-throated Needletail have similar markings, but the former differs from the latter in having a less contrasting throat patch, usually a slightly paler chest, a less contrasting mantle patch and grey-white tertial spots. Furthermore, to date the present species’ nest has never been found, and it is possible that the breeding areas are more widespread than currently suspected.

Large swift with broad wings , short squarish tail with rectrix spines longest and strongest in centre, and reach up to 6.25 mm beyond web (1 Chantler, P. and Driessens, G. (2000). Swifts. A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World. 2nd edition. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, UK. Close , 2 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ), and long full body with head particularly prominent .

Markings similar to White-throated Needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus), differing in less contrasting throat patch, usually slightly paler chest, less contrasting mantle patch (overall blacker upperparts), and gray-white tertial spots. Juvenile has less obvious pale saddle and some brown crescents on white areas of rear underbody. Differs from slightly larger Brown-backed Needletail (H. giganteus) in its sandy-fawn saddle, more or less square-ended tail, and white undertail-coverts appearing to reach almost to the tail tip (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Juvenile

This plumage is very similar to the same age of H. caudacutus, but saddle is even less obvious, and displays some brown crescents on flanks, vent, and undertail-coverts.

Adult

Most of head and nape blackish brown or olive-brown, with crown and nape glossed greenish blue in fresh plumage (gloss is lost with wear, and paler brown feather bases on cap may become visible). Bases to feathers of nape gray, but rarely visible even when plumage heavily worn. Throat is gray-brown to pale gray-brown, often contrasting hardly at all with the rest of the underparts, but some birds are clearly paler, especially on the central throat and chin. Saddle pale brown, palest on lower mantle and back (especially in worn plumage), becoming progressively darker towards the nape. Scapulars and central rump are olive-brown, clearly darker brown on sides of rump and uppertail-coverts. Tail is black, glossed green; central rectrix spines extend 6.25 mm, whereas those on outermost feathers project up to 2.8 mm. Remiges black, inner webs of primaries (except tips) paler brown, and all wing-coverts black; flight feathers and coverts are glossed bluish, with wear becoming greenish blue to dark blue (and appearing black). Tertials have pale gray inner webs (visible in very good views), and longest feather has a dark gray tip to the inner web. On the underwing, remiges appear paler and are uniform with the greater coverts, but the median and lesser coverts are blacker brown, and uniform with the axillaries. Breast to upper flanks and vent olive-brown, with brown gloss when fresh; and lower flanks and undertail-coverts white, forming very distinctive white horseshoe patch. Sexes similar.

Virtually no information. Specimens taken in Peninsular Malaysia in the period October–December and in February showed no evidence of wing molt, but some body feathers were being replaced by those collected in November (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Bill

Adults have the bill blackish (4 Robinson, H. C. (1928). The Birds of the Malay Peninsula: a General Account of the Birds Inhabiting the Region from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore with the Adjacent Islands. Volume 2. The birds of the hill stations. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ).

Iris

Adults have the irides deep brown (4 Robinson, H. C. (1928). The Birds of the Malay Peninsula: a General Account of the Birds Inhabiting the Region from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore with the Adjacent Islands. Volume 2. The birds of the hill stations. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ).

Legs and Feet

Adults have these parts purplish to pale lavender (4 Robinson, H. C. (1928). The Birds of the Malay Peninsula: a General Account of the Birds Inhabiting the Region from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore with the Adjacent Islands. Volume 2. The birds of the hill stations. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ).

Linear Measurements

Overall length 20–22 cm.

Linear measurements (in mm, sexes combined, from Wells 3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ):

Mass

76.1–111.0 g (5 Collins, C.T. and Brooke, R.K. (1976). A review of the swifts of the genus Hirundapus (Aves: Apodidae). Contrib. Sci. Los Angeles Co. Mus. 282:1–22. Close , 3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Closely related to White-throated Needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus), with which was in the past sometimes considered conspecific.

Geographical variation very weakly defined.

Three subspecies currently recognized.

H. c. rupchandi (Biswas, 1951)—breeds in central Nepal; winters West Java, Sumatra, and Peninsular Malaysia. Has darker throat than nominate and slightly paler underparts, with less glossy upperparts (6 Biswas, B. (1951). On some larger spine-tailed swifts, with description of a new subspecies (Chaetura cochinchinensis rupchandi) from Nepal. Ardea. 39(4):318–321. Close , 7 Ali, S., and S. D. Ripley (1983). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 4. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Delhi, India. Close , 2 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Wing 180–192 mm, tail 46–49 mm (7 Ali, S., and S. D. Ripley (1983). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 4. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Delhi, India. Close ).

H. c. cochinchinensis (Oustalet, 1878)—breeds in northeast India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and possibly Mizoram), northern Myanmar and southern China (Hainan), and scattered localities (status unclear) in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam; winters in Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and West Java. Single specimen from West Java, previously separated as form ernsti, and treated variously as a distinct species or as a race of Brown-backed Needletail (H. giganteus), now synonymized herein.

H. c. formosanus (Yamashina, 1936)—breeds on Taiwan; wintering area unknown. Recognized only by virtue of geographical isolation (5 Collins, C.T. and Brooke, R.K. (1976). A review of the swifts of the genus Hirundapus (Aves: Apodidae). Contrib. Sci. Los Angeles Co. Mus. 282:1–22. Close ). Formerly placed in H. caudacutus (8 Peters, J. L. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 4. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close ), formosanus has been shown to be virtually identical to nominate race of the present species, and is perhaps better treated as synonymous with it.

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SUBSPECIES

Hirundapus cochinchinensis rupchandi Scientific name definitions

Distribution

C Nepal; winters W Java, Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia.

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SUBSPECIES

Hirundapus cochinchinensis cochinchinensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

NE India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and possibly Mizoram), N Myanmar and S China (Hainan), and scattered localities (status unclear) in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam; winters in Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and W Java.

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SUBSPECIES

Hirundapus cochinchinensis formosanus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Taiwan; wintering area unknown.

Range rather imperfectly known, and apparent gaps in distribution and temporal status in different regions may be subject to future refinement. Occurs in the eastern Himalayas from Uttarakhand, and central Nepal (where apparently only a summer visitor) and northeast India south of the Brahmaputra River, in Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland, to Bangladesh and northern Myanmar. Other northern populations, on Taiwan and Hainan Island (China), are also believed to be summer only. In South-East Asia, where the species has been recorded in parts of northern Thailand and adjacent Indochina, as well as Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and West Java, the species is apparently largely a winter visitor, or in some cases passage migrant, but there is evidence to suggest that it is resident in parts of northeast Cambodia and over much of Vietnam (see Movement Ecology). Has been speculated that the Taiwan population winters in the Philippines, based on an unconfirmed sight record from northern Luzon (9 Allen, D. (2001). Needletails Hirundapus in northern Luzon. Bulletin of the Oriental Bird Club 34:68. Close ).

To 600 m in central lowlands of Nepal, i.e. below the elevational range of Hirundapus caudacutus in the same country, most frequently over primary forest (10 Inskipp, C., and T. Inskipp (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Nepal. Second edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but elsewhere in Indian Subcontinent recorded to c. 2500 m (11 Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp, and T. Inskipp (1998). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ,2 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Winters over variety of habitats from lowlands to 3,350 m, mainly in forest areas (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ), especially close to water including wet paddyfields.

Poorly understood. Occurs in Peninsular Malaysia late September to mid April (12 Medway, L., and D. R. Wells (1976). The Birds of the Malay Peninsula. Volume 5. Conclusions and Survey of Every Species. Witherby & Penerbit University Malaya, London, UK & Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Close ,3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ), with presumed migration through South-East Asia April–May and early September–October, usually in small numbers, often fewer than just five individuals together, but sometimes in flocks of up to 250 (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ); collected at night from Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia, between late October and early December (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Flocks of 20 on passage Bintan, Riau Archipelago, Strait of Malacca, late November (13 Rajathurai, S. (1996). The birds of Batam and Bintan Islands, Riau Archipelago. Kukila 8:86–113. Close ), and 50–60 at lower Ketahun River, Sumatra, early October (14 Holmes, D.A. (1996). Sumatra Bird Report. Kukila 8:9–56. Close ). Records from Sumatra and Java involve both the nominate race and Himalyan rupchandi (15 Mees, G. F. (1971). Systematic and faunistic remarks on birds from Borneo and Java, with new records. Zoologische Mededelingen 45:225–244. Close ,16 Mees, G.F. (1973). The status of two species of migrant swifts in Java and Sumatra. Zool. Med. 46(15):197–205. Close ,17 Mees, G.F. (1985). Comments on species of the genus Hirundapus (Apodidae). Proc. K. Ned. Akad. Wet. (Ser. C Biol. Med. Sci.) 88:63–73. Close ,18 Eaton, J. A., B. van Balen, N. W. Brickle, and F. E. Rheindt (2016). Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Spring migration through Hong Kong late March to mid May (19 Chalmers, M.L. (1986). Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, Hong Kong. Close ,1 Chantler, P. and Driessens, G. (2000). Swifts. A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World. 2nd edition. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, UK. Close ), with records attributed to migrants from Vietnam in May (20 Robson, C.R. (1995). From the field. Vietnam. Bulletin of the Oriental Bird Club 22:61–62. Close ,21 Robson, C.R. (1997). From the field. Vietnam. Bulletin of the Oriental Bird Club 25:69. Close ), presumably en route to Taiwan and Hainan, respectively. However, subsequent fieldwork suggests that this species may be a fairly widespread resident across Vietnam, albeit with evidence of passage through Tonkin (22 Craik, R., and L. Q. Minh (2018). Birds of Vietnam. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ), and also resident in parts of adjacent northeast Cambodia (23 Goes, F. (2013). The Birds of Cambodia: An Annotated Checklist. Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, Fauna & Flora International Cambodia Programme and Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Close ); however, all records from Thailand are in October–April (24 Treesucon, U., and W. Limparungpatthanakij (2018). Birds of Thailand. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Only recently confirmed to occur in Bangladesh, despite older references routinely referring to presence there, based on March records, perhaps of birds still on passage to Himalayas (25 Thompson, P.M. and Johnson, D.L. (2003). Further notable bird records from Bangladesh. Forktail 19:85–102. Close ). Recorded as vagrant from Bali (26 Mason, V. (2011). A revised checklist for the birds of Bali, with notes on recent additions to the avifauna. Kukila 15:1–30. Close ) and southern Japan (always in Nansei Shoto, first on Tokara Islands, May 2013, but since reported also in April and September–November; 27 Tokorozaki, S., Tokorozaki, K., Umegaki, Y. and Takagi, S. (2014). [The first record of Silver-backed Needletail Hirundapus cochinchinensis from Japan]. Japanese Journal of Ornithology 63(1):49–53. In Japanese with English summary. Close ,28 Chikara, O. (2019). Birds of Japan. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ).

Often encountered feeding over water on newly hatched insects, frequently with Hirundapus giganteus, but in northwest India also observed with Alpine Swifts Apus melba and Little Swifts A. affinis (29 Sharma, M., & Khanolkar, N. V. (2018). Silver-backed Needletail Hirundapus cochinchinensis at Corbett Tiger Reserve: a westward range extension into the western Himalayas and a first record for Uttarakhand and northern India. Indian Birds 14(2):46–49. Close ). Highly mobile and often seen in small groups; up to 250 recorded together in Peninsular Malaysia (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Remains in an area for long only if feeding conditions very favourable.

Similar to Hirundapus caudacutus, but perhaps less metallic and less arresting than vocalizations of latter (2 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). A high-pitched, very rapid twittering, typically a few short notes followed by a descending, dry trill, tip..tip...pseew...trrrrrrr or tip...ti-tip..ti-tip...trrrrrrrr, typically lasting just 0.5 seconds, but at other times intermixes irregular twitters with short trills of fairly constant pitch and tempo (main pitch 5.5–6.0 kHz, overall range 4.0–6.0 kHz, at rate of 20–24 notes per second) (2 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ).

Nest unknown.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Believed to be common in Assam Hills, otherwise status little known, but range in the Himalayas has recently been extended much further west to Uttarakhand (northwest India) (29 Sharma, M., & Khanolkar, N. V. (2018). Silver-backed Needletail Hirundapus cochinchinensis at Corbett Tiger Reserve: a westward range extension into the western Himalayas and a first record for Uttarakhand and northern India. Indian Birds 14(2):46–49. Close ). Race formosanus said to be uncommon; nominate race rare on Hainan (30 Tso-hsin, C. (1987). A Synopsis of the Avifauna of China. Science Press and Paul Parey, Beijing, China; Hamburg and Berlin, Germany. [In English with Chinese index]. Close ). Status uncertain in several areas, especially in Indochina, where many records may refer to passage birds, but recent work appears to establish residency across large parts of Vietnam at least (22 Craik, R., and L. Q. Minh (2018). Birds of Vietnam. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ); reported to be common in parts of south-central and southern Laos (31 Thewlis, R. M., J. W. Duckworth, G. Q. A. Anderson, M. Dvorak, T. D. Evans, E. Nemeth, R. J. Timmins, and R. J. Wilkinson (1995). Ornithological records from Laos, 1992–1993. Forktail 11:47–100. Close ). Recorded in a number of protected areas, e.g. Chitwan National Park (Nepal), Khao Yai National Park (Thailand), Taman Negara National Park Malaysia), Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (Singapore) and Nam Bai Cat Tien National Park (Vietnam).