Asian Palm-swift

The Asian palm swift is a small, slender swift about 13cm long, mainly pale brown, with long swept-back wings shaped like a crescent or boomerang and a long, deeply forked tail that is usually held closed. The call is a loud, shrill scream. It was formerly treated as the same species as the African palm swift (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a common resident breeder from India to the Philippines, in open country and cultivation and strongly associated with palms. The down-and-feather nest is glued to the underside of a palm leaf with saliva, which also fixes the usually two or three eggs in place. Swifts spend most of their lives in the air catching insects and drink on the wing.