Black Swift

cypseloides niger

The Black Swift is a mysterious and captivating aerialist of the Americas, famed for its extraordinary lifestyle. Unlike most birds, it spends the vast majority of its life on the wing, foraging, drinking, and even sleeping while aloft. This elusive bird chooses highly inaccessible nesting sites, specifically vertical rock faces hidden behind or adjacent to cascading waterfalls and mist-shrouded sea cliffs. Their nests are kept constantly damp by the spray, a microclimate that deters predators but requires the chicks to withstand remarkably cold temperatures. Due to their high-altitude foraging habits and remote nesting locations, they remain one of the least understood bird species in North America.

生息地: Found nesting on wet, shadowy vertical rock faces behind waterfalls or inside sea caves, and foraging high over mountainous canyons and forested valleys.

外見

The Black Swift is the largest swift in North America, characterized by its soot-black or very dark charcoal-grey plumage. It has a slightly paler face, and its long, slender, scythe-like wings give it an elegant, anchor-like silhouette in flight. Its tail is relatively long and slightly notched, though this feature is often difficult to see unless the tail is fanned during maneuvers. Unlike swallows, which have a more undulating flight, the Black Swift flies with deep, powerful wingbeats interspersed with long, stable glides.

界Animalia門Chordata綱Aves目Apodiformes科Apodidae属Cypseloides

Black Swift

カテゴリ

鳥類

レア度

Common

危険度

1/5 · 非常に低い

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おもしろい事実

Because they nest behind waterfalls, the chicks must tolerate constant freezing spray and are often damp for the entire first month of their lives.

Black Swifts lay only a single egg per nesting season, which is an exceptionally low reproductive rate for a small landbird.

Their wintering grounds were completely unknown to science until 2009, when researchers used tiny geolocators to track Colorado-breeding birds to remote areas of the Brazilian Amazon.

特殊能力

Exclusively builds nests on vertical cliffs in the misty spray zones behind waterfalls or inside damp sea caves to deter terrestrial predators.

Capable of staying aloft for days or even weeks at a time, sleeping while gliding at high altitudes during migration.

Nestlings can enter a state of semi-torpor, lowering their body temperature and metabolic rate to survive periods of starvation when parents cannot forage due to bad weather.

サイズと詳細

長さ: 15-19 cm
翼開長: 37-43 cm
体重: 0.035-0.055 kg
寿命: 5-15 年
Top Speed: 80 km/h
一度の産卵数: 1
抱卵期間: 24-30 日
渡りの距離: 7000 km

食性と食事

Feeds exclusively while flying, capturing aerial insects in mid-air, often targeting large swarms of flying ants and beetles at high altitudes.

主な食物

Flying ants
Beetles
Flies
Wasps
True bugs

採餌方法

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生態系とのつながり

competitor

Vaux's Swift

Chaetura vauxi

Compete for high-altitude flying insect swarms in western North American airspace.

hunts

Western Thatching Ant

Formica obscuripes

Provides a vital food source during the breeding season, particularly when the winged reproductive forms swarm.

eaten by

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

Rarely, this fast-flying raptor will ambush Black Swifts as they forage or return to their nesting waterfalls.

特徴

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別名

まだ別名はありません。

コレクション

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安全性

危険度

1/5 · 非常に低い

まだ特別な安全上の注意はありません。

よくある質問

Black Swiftを見分けるには？

Black Swiftを識別する最も簡単な方法は、Snappit自然識別アプリを使用することです。

Black Swiftの長さは何ですか？

15-19 cm

Black Swiftの翼開長は何ですか？

37-43 cm

Black Swiftの体重は何ですか？

0.035-0.055 kg

Black Swiftの寿命は何ですか？

5-15 年

Black Swiftのtop Speedは何ですか？

80 km/h

Black Swiftは何を食べますか？

Feeds exclusively while flying, capturing aerial insects in mid-air, often targeting large swarms of flying ants and beetles at high altitudes.

Black Swiftは通常どこに生息していますか？

Found nesting on wet, shadowy vertical rock faces behind waterfalls or inside sea caves, and foraging high over mountainous canyons and forested valleys.