The white-naped swift (''Streptoprocne semicollaris'') is the largest representative of the

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 * SWIF ...

family in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

and one of the two largest species in the world. Only the

purple needletail The purple needletail (''Hirundapus celebensis''), or ''hagibas'' in Tagalog, is the largest swift found in the Old World. It is native to the Philippine archipelago and the Minahasa Peninsula (Sulawesi). This bird lives in various forests an ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

may be slightly larger.''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), . This bird is found principally in western and central

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, with one record on the

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

n border. This species is essentially a bird of wild highland landscapes, where it favors cliff faces, deep river gorges and high crags. Its main habitats are

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

forests, tropical

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...

s and second-growth scrub. This swift is usually found at an elevation of and, much more rarely, down to sea level. The white-naped swift is huge for a swift, measuring long, being some 20% larger than its more common and much more widespread cousin, the

white-collared swift The white-collared swift (''Streptoprocne zonaris'') is a species of bird in the subfamily Cypseloidinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found in Mexico, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, and every mainland South American country e ...

. Weight in the species can vary from with a reported average weight of . The adults are brown-black, glossed blue on the back, and have a white crescent on the nape. The tail is fairly squared off, but can be held in a minorly notched way when flying. The more widespread

is similar, sometimes measuring nearly as large. The white-collar, however, has a complete white collar (whereas the White-nape has no white on the underside) and has a strongly notched tail. This is a gregarious species, with breeding colonies sometimes including up to 200 individuals. It has been observed roosting alongside several other species of swift as well. Breeding colonies often forage together to several miles away from the breeding site. It has a powerful, fast and direct flight, and will ascent thermals to great heights. White-naped swifts feeds in flight on a variety of flying

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s, including

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

s and flying

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

s. The nest is typically a shallow depression (made by the parents) in dry sand, usually lacking any materials or saliva, although they are apparently picky about the consistency of the soil used. The nests have usually been found in caves, with the nest located on ledges off the main chamber. Two white eggs are laid. The details of brooding behavior are not known. This swift is normally silent when seen solitary and noisy when encountered in a group. The call is described as ''cree-cree-cree''. The call is delivered both while in flight and while perched on the walls of the nesting cave.

References

* Chantler and Driessens, ''Swifts'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q1268366 white-naped swift Endemic birds of Mexico Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur white-naped swift