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The White-throated Needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus), or Needle-tailed Swift, is a large swift.

These birds have very short legs which they use only 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 breeds in rocky hills in central Asia and southern Siberia. This species is migratory, wintering south to Australia. It is a rare vagrant in western Europe, but has been recorded as far west as Norway, Sweden and Great Britain.

These swifts build their nests in rock crevices in cliffs or hollow trees. The flight is impressively fast, even compared to other swifts.

The White-throated Needletail is a large birdFor other meanings of bird see bird (disambiguation). Many see text Birds are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates characterized primarily by feathers, forelimbs modified as wings, and hollow bones. There are almost 9000 known species of birds in, similar in size to Alpine SwiftAlpine Swift : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Apodiformes : Apodidae Apus melba Binomial name Apus melba Linnaeus, 1758 The Alpine Swift Apus melba is a small bird, superficially similar to a large Barn Swallow or House Martin. It is, however, completely un, but a quite different build, with a heavier barrel-like body. They are black except for a white throat, white undertail, which extends on to the flanks, and a somewhat paler brown back.

The Hirundapus needletailed swifts get their name from the spiny end to the tail, which is not forked as in the Apus typical swifts.