Brown-backed Needletail Hirundapus giganteus Scientific name definitions

Largely resident and fairly common throughout its range, this needletail occurs from northeast India through much of South-East Asia to the Greater Sundas and Palawan, in the southwest Philippines, with a highly disjunct population in southwest India and Sri Lanka. Some individuals from the northern parts of the range move south in winter to the Thai-Malay Peninsula, probably to Borneo and possibly also Sumatra. Silver-backed Needletail is a very large and broad-winged swift, a protruding head and bulky hindbody, short tail with prominent rectrix spines, black-brown upperparts with a pale brown saddle, indistinctly paler throat within overall dark brown underparts, with the distinct white ‘horseshoe’ mark on the undertail-coverts and rear flanks typical of all Hirundapus species. There are two subspecies, principally differentiated by the clean whitish supraloral patch in race indicus.

Very large swift with broad wings, pinched-in at body, broad protruding head and bulky hindbody, short tail with prominent rectrix spines protruding up to 11.5 mm beyond web in central tail; black-brown upperbody with pale brown saddle; indistinctly paler brown throat on dark brown underparts, which show distinct white horseshoe mark on undertail-coverts and rear flanks.

Descriptions based on H. g. indicus (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 ).

Juvenile

Very similar to the adult, but displays very narrow pale fringes to remiges, less extensive white supraloral spots, and some brown crescents on horseshoe.

Adult

Upper head and nape are dark olive-brown, with a metallic black gloss in fresh plumage, which is lost with wear, whereupon brown feather bases become more obvious. Saddle brown, paler than head and tail, and palest on centre of lower mantle and back (and when worn), and becoming progressively darker towards the nape. Scapulars and central rump olive-brown, darker at sides of rump and on uppertail-coverts. Tail is black-brown, with metallic gloss (like head), central rectrix spines projecting up to 11 mm, but just 1.8 mm from outermost feathers. Remiges black, paler brown on inner webs of primaries (but not reaching tips). Wing-coverts black, indistinctly glossed, and appear slightly darker than the flight feathers. Tertials paler and browner on inner webs, but this contrast is visible only in the hand. The remiges are paler on their undersides, appearing rather uniform with the greater coverts. The median and lesser coverts are darker blacker brown, and in turn uniform with the axillaries. Throat pale brown to brown, palest in center on and on chin, contrasting with the surround (which is the darkest area on the head); throat patch is variable, but sometimes fairly distinct. Underparts dark brown, from breast to upper flanks and vent, with brown gloss in fresh plumage, and highly distinctive white horseshore patch on lower flanks and undertail-coverts; dark shaft-streaks are apparent on undertail-coverts of some specimens. Sexes similar.

All information from Wells (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Molt of primaries is descendant, with up to three adjacent feathers being replaced simultaneously. Individuals (n = 19) of resident nominate race in Peninsular Malaysia have been found in wing molt during every month, except January, May, October, and December, with seven birds replacing pp1–3 in early April and others completing wing molt in late June and (n = 3) July. Birds of this race collected in August were fresh, and other individuals not in molt are dated September and December to early March. No specimens of migrant race indicus collected in Peninsular Malaysia show any evidence of molt, but none has been handled in midwinter.

Bill

Adults have the bill blackish (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Iris

Adults have irides deep brown (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Legs and Feet

Adults have these pink-gray to purplish slate (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Linear Measurements

Overall length 21.0–26.5 cm.

Linear measurements (in mm, sexes combined, nominate race, unless otherwise stated):

Mass

123–167 g (4 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 , 2 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 Purple Needletail (Hirundapus celebensis), and previously considered conspecific (5 Peters, J. L. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 4. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close ). Single specimen from West Java, described as form ernsti and treated variously as a species (5 Peters, J. L. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 4. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close ) or as a race of present species, now included in nominate form of Silver-backed Needletail (H. cochinchinensis).

Very limited, based on small differences in morphometrics and plumage.

Two subspecies recognized.

H. g. indicus (A. O. Hume, 1873)—southwest India (south from Goa) and Sri Lanka, as well as Bangladesh and northeast India east into South-East Asia; also the Andaman Islands. Averages shorter-winged and has a whitish supraloral patch, which is somewhat reduced in the juvenile.

H. g. giganteus (Temminck, 1825)—Malay Peninsula, Greater Sundas, and the southwest Philippines (Palawan).

Birds of Andamans intermediate between those of southwest India and nominate giganteus, and probably represent a separate, undescribed race (3 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 ).

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SUBSPECIES

Hirundapus giganteus indicus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

SW India (S from Goa) and Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh and NE India E into SE Asia; Andaman Is.

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SUBSPECIES

Hirundapus giganteus giganteus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Malay Peninsula, Greater Sundas, and SW Philippines (Palawan).

Large South and South-East Asian range; resident in Western Ghats of southwest India, from Goa south to Kerala; on Sri Lanka and the Andaman Islands; also resident and a migrant in the northeast Indian Subcontinent, from Assam through Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland, to Bangladesh, thence south throughout Myanmar, western and southeastern Thailand, Cambodia, parts of Laos, and southern Vietnam, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra (including the Riau and Lingga archipelagos), Java and Bali; also Borneo (including the North Natuna Islands) and Calamian and Palawan, in the southwest Philippines.

In Thailand over a wide range of habitats, mainly in lowlands, to 1,800 m; on Borneo to 1,700 m (6 Mann, C. F. (2008). The Birds of Borneo. An Annotated Checklist. B.O.U. Checklist 23. British Ornithologists’ Union and British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough, UK. Close ) and in Peninsular Malaysia to 1,500 m (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Prefers primary forest but also seen over secondary forest, especially where lakes or rivers present. Recorded from moist deciduous forest at Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, India (7 Gokula, V., and L. Vijayan (1997). Birds of Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, India. Forktail 12:107–116. Close ).

Race indicus partial migrant, wintering in Thai-Malay Peninsula (autumn influx into Singapore regularly commences mid September and the birds leave by late March, however this race has been mist-netted at Fraser’s Hill in the third week of May (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) and probably Borneo (8 Smythies, B. E. (1957). An annotated checklist of the birds of Borneo. Sarawak Museum Journal (New Series) 7(9):523–818. Close ), although there are no confirmed records of this race there (6 Mann, C. F. (2008). The Birds of Borneo. An Annotated Checklist. B.O.U. Checklist 23. British Ornithologists’ Union and British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough, UK. Close ); also possibly Sumatra, where present September–May (9 van Marle, J. G., and K. H. Voous (1988). The Birds of Sumatra. An Annotated Check-list. BOU Check-list 10. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, UK. Close ,10 Parrott, S., and P. Andrew (1996). An annotated checklist of the birds of Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra. Kukila 8:57–85. Close ). Nominate race resident.

Predominantly Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera recorded for race indicus; one of latter trapped in Peninsular Malaysia had been feeding exclusively on large, winged ants of four species (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Gregarious (albeit usually observed in flocks numbering 20–30 or fewer (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ,11 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 ) and often seen with other needletails, but rarely with other species of swifts (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 ) except on Andaman Islands, where regularly consorts with Plume-toed Swiftlet Collocalia affinis (3 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 ). Forages over forest canopy and in particular takes advantage of insect hatchings over waterways and lakes; may feed above forest fires apparently on swarms of hymenopterans, termites, etc. (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Similar to congeners, but considered slower (3 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 twittering, typically a few short notes followed by a trill. Also, a brittle, squeaked cirrweet  , repeated 2–3 times, and a thin squeak chiek that is also repeated (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 ).

Season February–April, Kerala, South India (12 Stewart, J. (1913). Notes on the nesting of the Brown-necked Spine-tailed Swift Chaetura indica and the White-rumped Spine-tailed Swift Chaetura sylvtica. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 22(2):393–394. Close ,13 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 ). Solitary nester. No nest construction recorded, but a depression is used or made in debris at base of tree hollow and lined with dry leaves and straw, with access to hollow through natural hole or one made by woodpecker, positioned c. 15 m above ground. Seen investigating a hole in a dead Shorea curtisii tree in Singapore in ealy February (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Clutch 3–4, occasionally five, white eggs, size 29.6 × 22.2 mm (4 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 ,13 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 ).

No information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Commonly encountered in suitable habitat. Deforestation with resultant loss of mature trees in which it nests indicates that populations may decline in parts of its range. First definite record in Bangladesh only recent, but now known to be a locally common winter visitor and passage migrant to forested valleys in the Chittagong Hills, between at least September and May; whether it breeds there is unclear (14 Thompson, P.M. and Johnson, D.L. (2003). Further notable bird records from Bangladesh. Forktail 19:85–102. Close ,15 Thompson, P. M., S. U. Chowdhury, E. Ul Haque, M. M. H. Khan, and R. Halder (2014). Notable bird records from Bangladesh from July 2002 to July 2013. Forktail 30: 50–65. Close ). Probably under-recorded in Indochina with first central Vietnamese records from North Annam in 1988 and from Central Annam in 1991 (16 Robson, C. R., J. C. Eames, J. A. Wolstencroft, Nguyên Cu, and Truong Van La (1989). Recent records of birds from Viet Nam. Forktail 5:71–97. Close ,17 Robson, C., Eames, J.C., Nguyen Cu and Truong Van La (1993). Further recent records of birds from Viet Nam. Forktail 8:25–52. Close ); recently found to be common in central and southern Laos, and apparently present year-round, though previously only listed for northeast of the country (18 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. Indira Gandhi National Park (India), Khao Yai National Park (Thailand), Taman Negara National Park (Malaysia) and Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam).