CRESTED SWIFT

also called Tree Swift (family Hemiprocnidae), any of three or four species of fork-tailed forest birds ranging from Southeast Asia and Australia to the Solomon Islands. Crested swifts differ from all other members of the order Apodiformes (e.g., hummingbirds) in having feet developed for effective perching. Except for the plumelike, erectile crest on the forehead and the black mask margined with elongated white feathers that distinguish two species, crested swifts in general resemble their close relatives the swifts in their wide mouths, small bills, and long, pointed wings. Crested swifts feed solitarily or in small parties, chiefly at twilight, by making forays for insects from a treetop. The nest is a small, flattish cup of bark and feathers glued together with saliva and attached to a high branch. The single egg fills the nest and is cemented into it. The incubating parent sits crosswise on the branch so as to cover nest and egg. A widespread species is the crested tree swift (Hemiprocne longipennis), ranging from Southeast Asia eastward to the Celebes. It is about 20 cm (8 inches) long and has pale blue-gray upperparts, dark brown wings and tail, and reddish cheeks. The 29-centimetre-long whiskered tree swift (H. mystacea) of Southeast Asia is mostly black.