from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. Any of various tropical and subtropical birds of the four genera Aerodramus, Hydrochous, Schoutedenapus, and Collocalia in the swift family, many of which can navigate in darkness using echolocation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. Any one of numerous species of small East Indian and Asiatic swifts of the genus Collocalia. Some of the species are noted for furnishing the edible bird's nest. See Illust. under edible.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A small kind of swift; a member of the genus Collocalia; a salangane. See cut under Collocalia.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. swift of eastern Asia; produces the edible bird's nest
Another big problem in George Town: swiftlet houses.
The moisture seeping in from the swiftlet house also weakened a support beam.
The birds were removed in February 2010, but not before another swiftlet breeder had taken over the two adjoining houses behind their home.
The Penang state government had promised to remove all swiftlet houses from George Town by the end of 2009, but last December, it pushed the deadline to the end of 2010.
Other birds include: the endemic Seychelles bulbul Hypsipetes crassirostris, blue pigeon Alectroenas pulcherrima, Seychelles sunbird Nectarinia dussamieri, Seychelles kestrel Falco araea and an endemic cave-nesting swiftlet Collocalia francica elaphra.
Birds includes herons Egretta sacra, stork-billed kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis, collared scops owl Otus bakkamoena, white bellied swiftlet Collocalia esculenta, pygmy swiftlet C. troglodytes, scrub-hen Megapodius freycinet cumingii and sea eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster.
Wildlife exploitation threatens the edible-nest swiftlet in the Nicobars, the Nicobar megapode, crocodiles, and sea turtles.
One of the most highly threatened residents is the edible-nest swiftlet (Collocalia fuciphaga), found inhabiting rocky limestone caves.
Of these, nine bird species are found nowhere else on Earth and four are threatened, including the endangered Javan hawk-eagle (Spizaetus bartelsi) and the vulnerable volcano swiftlet (Collocalia [Aerodramus] vulcanorum), Javan cochoa (Cochoa azurea), and Javan scops-owl (Otus angelinae).
Three Mascarene endemic birds occur on more than one island, the Mascarene paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone bourbonnensis), Mascarene grey white-eye (Zosterops borbonicus), and Mascarene swiftlet (Collocalia francica).
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