Papuan Needletail (Mearnsia novaeguineae)

Other Names (World)
Papuan Spinetail, Papuan Needletailed Swift, Papuan Needletail, New Guinea Spinetail, New Guinea Spinetailed Swift, New Guinea Needletail, Grey-bellied Needletail, Gray-bellied Needletail, Papuan Spine-tailed Swift, Papuan Spinetailed Swift

Family
Apodidae (Swifts)

Size
11.50 cm

First Described (Guide)
(D'Albertis & Salvadori, 1879)

Habitat
Forest edges, gardens and cleared areas with standing dead trees.

Range (Guide)

Indonesia (B), Papua New Guinea (B).

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Flying insects.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (1)...)

Papuan Spine-tailed Swift (Mearnsia novaeguineae) [XC557698]
by id from Iniok, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea (call, calls)

Papuan Spine-tailed Swift (Mearnsia novaeguineae) [XC413092]
by Philippe Verbelen from Waropko, Kabupaten Boven Digoel, Papua, Indonesia (flight call)

Nest
In a hollow of a tree.

Subspecies
Proposed subspecies mamberana, known from mouth of Mamberano R, nowadays included in buergersi.

The following 2 subspecies are recognised:

buergersi (Reichenow, 1917) - Northern New Guinea.
novaeguineae (D'Albertis & Salvadori, 1879) - Southern and south-eastern New Guinea.

References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
A Field Guide to the Birds of South-east Asia Robson, C., 2000, New Holland ISBN 1 84330 118 0

Files:

JPG files for Papuan Needletail (Mearnsia novaeguineae) - 4 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Papuan Needletail see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Articles about the Papuan Needletail

If you would like to read any articles about the Papuan Needletail...

Show Articles (0)

No Pictures of Papuan Needletail

If Birdpedia has no pictures of Papuan Needletail or you would like to see more, then try the following...

Show External Images from BING

From BING (0)

No Videos of Papuan Needletail

If Birdpedia has no videos of Papuan Needletail or you would like to see more, then try the following..

Show External Videos

From BING (0)

Where can I observe this species?

Select an area (or leave blank) to see locations where this species has been recorded.

Area

All

Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location.

Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.

Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	GPS help

Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	Find GPS using Google Maps

Distance	Bearing
		Get Sample GPS readings

On What Field Trips was this species observed?

Select an area (or leave blank), and a date range, to see field trips on which this species has been recorded.

Area

All

From	To

Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	GPS help

Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or

Distance	Bearing
		Get Sample GPS readings

Latest Sightings for Papuan Needletail