The mountain swiftlet (''Aerodramus hirundinaceus'') is a species of

swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT ...

in the family

Apodidae The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are not closely related to any passerine species. Swifts are placed in the order Apodiformes with hummingbirds. The treeswifts are closely ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and the nearby islands of

Karkar Karkar may refer to: * Karkar, Selseleh, a village in Iran *Karkar Island, an island in Papua New Guinea * Karkar language, a language spoken in Papua New Guinea * Karkar Rural LLG, a local-level government in Papua New Guinea * Karkar Morghi Deli ...

Yapen Yapen (also Japan, Jobi) is an island of Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is Mios Num Islan ...

and Goodenough. It was once placed in the genus ''

Collocalia ''Collocalia'' is a genus of swifts, containing some of the smaller species termed "swiftlets". Formerly a catch-all genus for these, a number of its former members are now normally (though not by all authors) placed in ''Aerodramus''. The genus ...

'' but has been moved, with many others, to ''Aerodramus''. The species is divided into three subspecies,ITIS standard report page for ''Aerodramus''
/ref> with the nominate, ''A. h. hirundinacea'' ranging over most of New Guinea, the subspecies ''A. h. excelsus'' occurring over 1600 m in the Snow Mountains and Cartenz peaks of

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

and ''A. h. baru'' being restricted to Yapen Island.Chantler, P. (1999) "Family Apodidae (Swifts) ''in'' del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Sargatal, J. (editors). (1999). ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

. Volume 5: Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds.'' Lynx Edicions. P. 428. It occurs in alpine areas from 500 m to the

treeline The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...

s and other mountainous habitats in New Guinea. It also occurs in lower numbers in the lowlands near hills. The mountain swiftlet is a medium-sized swiftlet, 11–13 cm long. It has dark brown upperparts and paler grey undersides. The tail is slightly forked. The subspecies vary slightly from the nominate race, ''A. h. baru'' has browner underparts and darker upperparts, while ''A. h. excelsus'' is larger than the nominate race. Like other members of the genus this species is able to echolocate, a trait it uses to navigate itself in the caves it breeds in. Like the rest of its genus it breeds in caves, constructing

nests A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

of vegetation such as ferns, rootlets and grasses, or lichens, held together with saliva.Tarburton, Michael K. (2003) "The breeding biology of the Mountain Swiftlet, ''Aerodramus hirundinaceus'', in Irian Jaya" ''Emu'' 103 (2): 177 - 182 They are

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 a ...

, but the caves examined so far do not suggest that they nest densely. The peak of the breeding season is October through to December, but there are occupied nests through most of the year. The clutch size is a single egg for this species. The nestling period, between 57 and 74 days, is one of the longer chick raising periods of any swifts. This is counteracted by a comparatively high breeding success rate, with 61% of mountain swiftlets successfully raising chicks.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27361 mountain swiftlet Birds of New Guinea mountain swiftlet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot