biology

White-throated needletail

White-throated needletail 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 White-throated needletail rather than just read about it. In short: The white-throated needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus), also known as the needle-tailed swift or spine-tailed swift, is a large swift in the genus Hirundapus. It is reputed to reach speeds of up to 170 km/h (110 mph) in horizontal flight, but this is unverified because the methods used to measure its speed have not been published. 75 km/h (47 mph) is more likely, but this is still at least 100 times the bird's length…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The white-throated needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus), also known as the needle-tailed swift or spine-tailed swift, is a large swift in the genus Hirundapus. It is reputed to reach speeds of up to 170 km/h (110 mph) in horizontal flight, but this is unverified because the methods used to measure its speed have not been published. 75 km/h (47 mph) is more likely, but this is still at least 100 times the bird's length per second. They build their nests in rock crevices in cliffs or hollow trees. They do not like to sit on the ground and spend most of their time in the air. They feed on small, flying insects like beetles, flies, bees and moths. The white-throated needletail is a migratory bird, breeding in Central Asia and southern Siberia, and wintering south in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. It is a rare vagrant in Western Europe and has been recorded as far west as Norway, Sweden and Great Britain. In June 2013, an individual was spotted in Great Britain for the first time in 22 years. It later flew into a wind turbine and died; its body was sent to a museum. In June 2022, a bird was recovered on an expedition ship MV Ortelius near Fair Isle approx 70 miles off Duncansby Head, Caithness, Scotland and successfully released. In October 2025, a white-throated needletail was spotted at Tophill Low Nature Reserve in East Yorkshire, England. White-throated needletails are large swifts with a robust, barrel-like body. They measure about 20 cm (7.9 in) and weigh between 110 and 120 grams (3.9 and 4.2 oz). They are greyish-brown except for a white throat and a white patch, extending from the base of the tail to the flanks. Needle-tailed swifts get their name from the spined end of their tail, which is not forked as it is in the typical swifts of the genus Apus. The white-throated needletail was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Hirundo caudacuta. Their current genus Hirundapus is constructed from the names of the swallow genus Hirundo and the swift genus Apus. The specific name caudacutus comes from the Latin words cauda meaning "tail" and acutus meaning "pointed".

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with White-throated needletail

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what White-throated needletail 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 White-throated needletail 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 White-throated needletail 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 White-throated needletail

In research: White-throated needletail 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 White-throated needletail 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: White-throated needletail is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Apodiformes stubs, Birds described in 1801, Birds of Japan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for White-throated needletail 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 White-throated needletail in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what White-throated needletail 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 White-throated needletail out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is White-throated needletail in simple terms?

Why does White-throated needletail 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 White-throated needletail?

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 White-throated needletail.