The other kings of the sky - swallows & swifts

Often we think of birds of prey as kings of the sky, but swallows and swifts too own the skys. They hawk insects on the fly, and they seem to effortlessly move around the open air space. It's hard to catch them at rest as often they perch high up in trees. Learning to identify these winged wonders is even harder as to the uninitiated they all look similar.

Recently, while on my morning walk, I stopped to glance skywards at the swallows and swifts zipping around. As I studied the birds, I realized that they were of different species. The largest is  the grey-rumped treeswift. I went back equipped with lens and ready to take pot shots of the swallows and swifts as they flew by.

Hmm...need lots of practice still, but I did catch several shots of the grey-rumped treeswifts at they gunned-by. These treeswifts are common but very little is known about them other than the fact that they are found throughout South East Asia in tropical lowland forests, tropical mangrove forests, and tropical montane forests.

Grey-rumped treeswift (male) perched way up in the tree

Since I followed the treeswifts, I managed to catch one that came to rest. Next time when you take a walk look up and see if you can spot these dainty kings of the sky.