biology

Philippine spinetail

Philippine spinetail is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Philippine spinetail rather than just read about it. In short: The Philippine spinetail (Mearnsia picina), also known as the Philippine needletail or Philippine spine-tailed swift, is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Mindanao and Visayas.

Key takeaways

Philippine spinetail belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Philippine spinetail to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Philippine spinetail from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Philippine spinetail (Mearnsia picina), also known as the Philippine needletail or Philippine spine-tailed swift, is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Mindanao and Visayas. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.

Description

Formerly placed in the genus Chaetura but is now in Mearnsia. This species is monotypic and has no subspecies.

Behaviour and ecology It is seen alone or in small groups in high up in the air. It is presumed to feed on flying insects. Nothing at all is known about its breeding habits.

Habitat and conservation status It appears to be reliant upon forested streams below 1,000 m and will tolerate secondary and selectively logged forest and even streamside vegetation within coconut plantations, close to forest edge. IUCN has assessed this bird as near threatened.This species' main threat is habitat loss with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range. The close association with lowland forests suggests that this species may be highly susceptible to habitat loss through commercial logging, conversion for agriculture and plantation forestry, as well as urban developments and mining

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Philippine spinetail

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Philippine spinetail claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Philippine spinetail before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Philippine spinetail ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Philippine spinetail

In research: Philippine spinetail appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Philippine spinetail in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Philippine spinetail is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Apodiformes stubs, Birds described in 1879, Birds of the Philippines, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Philippine spinetail outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Philippine spinetail in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Philippine spinetail means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Philippine spinetail out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Philippine spinetail in simple terms?

Why does Philippine spinetail matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Philippine spinetail?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Philippine spinetail.