Wildlife of Australia by Louise Egerton

Author:Louise Egerton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Australia’s only resident swift is the diminutive Australian Swiftlet (11cm/4in) of north-eastern Queensland. It breeds through the Wet in large colonies in caves, navigating in the pitch dark by echolocation and hawking above rainforest canopies and tropical beaches.

Australia’s most common visitors, the White-throated Needletail and the Fork-tailed Swift, arrive from Asia in about October. The Fork-tailed Swifts disperse across all the continent’s habitats. The larger White-throated Needletail is a common sight throughout eastern Australia; while only 20cm (8in) long, it has a wingspan of 50cm (20in). The forked tails and white throats referred to in the names of these respective species may help to distinguish them.

Rare vagrant swifts to Australia include the House Swift (15cm/6in), whose square tail when fanned distinguishes it from the very similar Forked-tailed Swift. Another vagrant, the tiny Glossy Swiftlet (10cm/4in), which can be distinguished by its pale underside, sometimes flies over the rainforest-clad ranges of north-eastern Queensland.

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