Whitehead's swiftlet
Species of bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whitehead's swiftlet (Aerodramus whiteheadi) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. It is named after the British explorer John Whitehead (1860–1899). Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Its status is insufficiently known.
| Whitehead's swiftlet | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Apodidae |
| Genus: | Aerodramus |
| Species: | A. whiteheadi |
| Binomial name | |
| Aerodramus whiteheadi (Ogilvie-Grant, 1895) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description and taxonomy
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized:
Ecology and behavior
Diet is unknown but it is pressumed to have the typical diet of insects caught in flight. Nothing is known about its breeding behaviour except nests were collected on Mt. Apo from a hollow tree in July.[2]
Habitat and conservation status
Its natural habitats are tropical montane forest beginning at 1,000 meters above sea level.
It is listed as data deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature with the population believed to be decreasing. Its difficulty to identify reliably, lack of records and inaccessibility of its montane habitat make it difficult to determine this species status. However, its habitat is threatened by deforestation from illegal logging, land conversion and mining.[3]
