Tuesday, August 09, 2022

Hummingbirds and Swifts

     As a result of my recent review of Sara Gibson's excellent book, Swifts and Us, and some subsequent correspondence I had with the author, I was asked by Hilary Melton-Butcher, that peripatetic seeker of knowledge, to explain the taxonomic affinity between hummingbirds and swifts. Like Hilary, perhaps many of you will find this fact of common ancestry a little surprising, but it is nonetheless, an established truth - subject to some some discussion about whether certain anatomical features reflect ancestry or convergent evolution! We may set that conjecture aside here.
     I don't think I can explain this without getting at least a little technical, so forgive me if I am causing your eyes to roll back in your head. It would easily be possible to make this post extremely lengthy, but I am going to try to cut to the essentials, while giving Hilary (and the rest of you) the explanation she is looking for.
     Both hummingbirds and swifts, along with treeswifts, are placed in the order Apodiformes, which means "without feet" and reflects the most significant similarity between the two. Feet have not been eliminated, of course, but they are barely functional in either species. Swifts, in fact, spend virtually all their lives on the wing, eating, sleeping and even mating in the air, using their feet which have sharp claws only to cling to the vertical surfaces on which they construct their nests. Hummingbird feet enable them to grip a branch but beyond that they are pretty much useless.

Cuban Emerald (Riccordia ricordii), Cienága de Zapata, Cuba

      The order Apodiformes contains the following families:
Treeswifts - Hemiprocnidae
Swifts - Apodidae
Hummingbirds - Trochilidae

     Shared characters are:
- modified cervical musculature
- the skeleton of flight apparatus
- wing muscle innervation, or feather tracts
- small to tiny birds with 10 primary feathers
- 6 - 11 significantly shorter secondaries
- all species are nidicolous (altricial)
- all species are gymnopaedic (naked, helpless young) 

     That, in a nutshell gives you the reasons for their grouping in one order.

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Somenos Marsh, Duncan, BC, Canada

      There are 359 species of hummingbird in the world and I have seen 137 of them.

Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), Cabañas San Isidro, Ecuador

Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica), Cerro Azul, Panama

     Treeswifts are a small family comprising only four members and I have seen two species in Cambodia. We have no pictures of our own to share so this image is taken from the internet.

Crested Treeswift (Hemiprocne comata)

     Of the 113 species of swift in the world I have seen thirty, yet have never been able to get a photograph, nor has Miriam, and of the two of us, she would be more likely than I am to succeed.
     So, once again, I resort to the internet.

Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)

     In addition, Franc Gorenc kindly sent me a couple of his pictures.

Antillean Palm Swift (Tachornis phoenicobia), Varadero, Cuba

Alpine Swift (Tachymarptis melba) chasing insect, Pag Island, Croatia

     I hope this gives you the information you are seeking, Hilary, and with luck it will enlighten others too.
David M. Gascoigne,
David M. Gascoigne,

I'm a life long birder. My interests are birds, nature, reading, books, outdoors, travel, food and wine.

54 comments:

  1. ...for awhile I thought that the hummingbirds didn't like my garden, but they have returned.

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  2. Such variety among the hummingbirds!

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  3. Hari OM
    Thanks to Hilary, I have learned much today! Cheers David. YAM xx

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  4. Very interesting!...and congratulations of knowing a lot (137) of hummingbirds...!!...I love hummingbirds, but I don't know many of them......Abrazotes, Marcela

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  5. I didn't know that about swift's and hummingbird's feet. Nor did I know they were related. I learned a lot today reading this post also. And you must have a really long list of checked off birds David. I am sure you feel until you see more that it is not nearly complete enough. hugs-Erika

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  6. I didn't know swifts spend so much time airborn!

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    1. If they didn't need to build a nest and raise young they would remain airborne for their entire lifespan.

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  7. They look so gorgeous! And those photos are phenomenal, esp. that Sword-billed Hummingbird, David.

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  8. Interesting. If hummingbirds birds would just perch for a while, I could get more pictures of them.

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  9. That's all news to me, David, so thank you so much for that. All these years I've been bemoaning the lack of hummingbirds in this country, only to find that the Swifts which screech past my windows every evening in summer are related to them.

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  10. No veré nunca un colobrí por aquí. Pero con tus buenas explicaciones algo más sé de ellos hoy. Gracias David .
    Que paséis buen miércoles.
    Un abrazo.

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  11. What beautiful pictures of the hummingbirds.
    I didn't know there were 359 species, I've never seen one.
    Here in the Netherlands they don't come for you you can only see them in the zoo.
    Greetings Irma

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    1. They are found exclusively in the Americas, Irma, principally in Central and South America.

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  12. They are all so beautiful David, and I wish the hummingbirds lived here. Hugs and kisses, Marit

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    1. If they knew about your garden, Marit, I am sure they would fly across the Atlantic!

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  13. Interesting and beautiful birds.

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  14. Thank you for your beautiful photos of the hummingbird... well, I will probably never see it in person, but we have enough swifts and it is a poem to watch them fly. I don't think I could ever take a picture...too fast.
    Many greetings to you both and a hug from me. It is a pleasure to look the photos.

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  15. Hi David.

    They are beautiful birds.

    Greetings from Patricia.

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  16. Hi David - thanks so much for answering my query - explained very simply, which was easy to understand - excellent photos too ... but I had to find their feet! I did here and the photos are quite interesting ... as too the basic notes. I hope you don't mind my including the link: http://www.commonswift.org/hints-for-ringers.html.

    Incredible how life has evolved ... I'm just glad humans haven't appended a lance into their bodily/skeletal make-up - like your sword-bill hummingbird - extraordinary carrying that (no doubt essential) appendage around.

    I so appreciate this explanation and post - thanks so much - cheers Hilary

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    1. I am glad it worked for you, Hilary.

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    2. Short, concise, and understandable . well done. I had no idea that they have no feet! BIG hugs, Valerie

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    3. They do have feet, Valerie, but feet that are only marginally functional.

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  17. I was very much surprised by that connection, David. Thank you for explaining it so well.

    I guess it took me between 10 and 15 attempts to leave this comment on your blog. Each time I tried, I got a message to sign into Google and a button to do so - which resulted in a message to say 'unable to sign in to Google account'. I wonder how many comments are 'missed' from people who don't have the dogged persistence that I do.

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    1. This whole business with commenting gets ever more ridiculous, Richard. I now check my spam folder religiously.

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  18. Interesting I never even knew swifts

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  19. Too many details for me, but I did enjoy the birds’ photos. A lot!

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    1. And I thought I had it compressed down as much as I could get it!

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  20. The number of hummingbirds seen is an admirable thing.

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  21. I have never seen a hummingbird (or a swift, for that matter), even though I bought a hummingbird feeder and set it up in my garden. Sadly, none ever came. You are so lucky to have seen so many and so fortunate to be able to travel to where they live. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about these beautiful birds today, David. Beautifully done.

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  22. Ooooh, dear David,
    today you made me very happy - hummingbirds definitely count to my favorite birds! And you've already seen 137 of them - fascinating and also a bit enviable, sigh! In my current post I share my comparatively low "yield" of hummingbird sightings. Maybe you can tell me what kind they are? I had no idea they were related to swifts, but your explanation makes sense. And I had no idea that there were different types of swifts. I'm learning a lot here with you. One thing, however, I knew beforehand: that it is almost impossible to take photos of swifts in flight ;-DD (I tried that on Mallorca - with VERY little success - you will see photos of it, I think next week... Luckily I was able to catch other birds with the camera.)
    But today, as I said, I show a few hummingbirds and a few other birds that fit the topic of the blogparade "tropical-exotic" ;-)
    All the best from Austria
    Traude
    https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2022/08/blogparade-tropisch-exotisch-u30blogger.html
    PS: I'm glad you could use the tip because of the can donations!

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  23. Hello David,
    Interesting post and information! I love all the hummingbird images and the swifts. Lovely photos. Take care, enjoy your day!

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  24. Thank you for the interesting information. I have no patience for photographing birds, but I like to paint them.

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  25. Me encantan las aves y estas que has fotografiado son muy bellas.

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  26. In our yard, our visitors are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Chimney Swifts. Both are most welcome.

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  27. Ces petits oiseaux sont tous plus mignons les uns que les autres, certains ont de très belles couleurs <3

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  28. Buenas tardes, querido profesor y amigo David, una magistral clase acompañada de bellísimas imágenes. Todo un placer comprender y ampliar conocimientos de esas especies, tan sumamente bellas y tan delicadas.
    Un fuerte abrazo de tu amigo y compadre Juan.

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  29. Hi David. I was surprised to learn about the relationship between Hummingbirds and Swifts. And also that the Swifts spend so much time in the air. Incredible!! The Crested Treeswift is gorgeous!

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  30. Surprising - and very interesting. When I first read about the feet I thought "no, they're perching on the branches of my trees all the time", but then I kept on reading and you explained all of it. I had no idea about the connection between hummingbirds and swifts.

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  31. It's not everyday that I learn something new that is so interesting. Thank you.

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  32. I am fortunate to have hummingbirds all around my yard and nests in the trees. Nothing like the face of a hummer. Have a nice day.

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  33. That Crested Treeswift is one of the most beautiful birds I've seen. After reading about the hummingbirds' feet, I looked again at my few photos, and sure enough: those tiny feet gripping the branches are well designed for that purpose, but it's true that I've never seen a hummingbird out for a stroll!

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  34. Very interesting and informative this publication; I have not seen any of the species, they do not reach here, although I have seen many hummingbirds and some swifts

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  35. I'm barely able to see one hummingbird, much less so many of the even more different species! Quite an accomplishment! What an interesting post, David. I learned a lot from this one!

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  36. What an interesting post.
    With thanks to you both :)

    All the best Jan

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  37. Gracias por tus explicaciones, no sabía que las dos aves tuvieran cosas en común, por España no veo colibrís, pero sí vencejos, me encantan todas las aves. Un abrazo muy fuerte querido amigo David.

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