Hawking (birds) - Sustained-flight Feeding

Sustained-flight Feeding

Continuous aerial feeding is a different way of hawking insects. It requires long wings and skillful flying, as in nightjars, swallows, and swifts. Swifts are the masters of aerial feeding; they can fly for hours without perching. Swallows, though similar to swifts in shape, are unrelated to swifts. Swallows feed in a similar manner to swifts, but less continuously, as they don't glide as much and they stop to perch for awhile between bouts of aerial feeding. This has to do with their prey: swifts fly higher in pursuit of smaller, lighter insects that are scattered by rising air currents, while swallows generally chase after medium-sized insects that are lower to the ground, such as flies. When swallows fly higher to go after smaller insects, they adjust their fight style to glide more, like a swift. Birds of the nightjar family employ a variety of moves for catching insects. The Common Nighthawk of North America flies in swift-like fashion on its long, slender, pointed wings. The Common Poorwill, on the other hand, flies low and perches low to the ground and will sally up into the air after insects. The Oilbird of South America, a relative of nightjars, lives in caves and uses echolocation to catch insects flying in pitch darkness.