Hirundapus giganteus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Superordo: Caprimulgimorphae
Ordo: Apodiformes

Familia: Apodidae
Subfamilia: Apodinae
Tribus: Chaeturini
Genus: Hirundapus
Species: Hirundapus giganteus
Subspecies: H. g. giganteus - H. g. indicus
Name

Hirundapus giganteus (Temminck, 1825)
Original combination: Cypselus giganteus

References

Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d'oiseaux livr. 61 BHL; pl.364 BHL
IUCN: Hirundapus giganteus (Least Concern)

Vernacular names
العربية: سمامة بنية الخلف
čeština: Rorýs hnědohřbetý
Cymraeg: Llostfain brown
Deutsch: Eilsegler
English: Brown-backed needletail
فارسی: دم‌سوزنی پشت‌قهوه‌ای
français: Martinet géant
മലയാളം: വലിയ മുൾ‌വാലൻ ശരപ്പക്ഷി
Bahasa Melayu: Burung Layang-layang Besar
Nederlands: Reuzenstekelstaartgierzwaluw
svenska: brunryggig taggstjärtseglare

The brown-backed needletail (Hirundapus giganteus), or brown needletail, is a large swift.

These birds have very short legs which they use only mainly for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground and spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks.

These swifts are resident breeders in hill forests in southern Asia from India east to Indonesia and the Philippines.

They build their nests in rock crevices in cliffs, laying 3-5 eggs. The flight is impressively fast, even compared to other swifts.

The brown-backed needletail is a very large swift, and at 23 cm is bigger than the Alpine swift and the white-throated needletail. It has a similar build to the latter species, with a heavy barrel-like body. They are dark brown except for a white undertail, which extends on to the flanks.

The Hirundapus needletailed swifts get their name from the spined ends of their tail, which is not forked as in the Apus typical swifts.
References

BirdLife International (2016). "Hirundapus giganteus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22686687A93122111. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22686687A93122111.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.

Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6