“I have always seen House Swift (Apus affinis subfurcatus) rushing through the air in the early morning as a group of 20-50, “screaming” away (a chorus of high pitched twittering).
“I had assumed this was a feeding behaviour but while watching them yesterday it looked like males chasing females. Took some pictures as considered it a possible mating behaviour rather than feeding. Was surprised to actually be able to capture some mid-air mating events (top, above – mating circled). They were occurring rather high up – hard to estimate but at least 30 meters up, possibly higher.
“I went back to my old pictures of flocks in the air and found another 2 mating events!
“Next time I am near this event will definitely take more pictures.”
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
28th November 2009
Location: Canning Garden Home, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
One Response
Amar-Singh HSS (Dato Dr)
Thanks for posting these images & observation of mine. Although this behavior is recognized, not everyone accepts my pictures as mating. Some feel they are over-lapped birds.