White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus caudacutus, Yikesama National Forest (52.151914,121.469139), Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia, China, elev. 1400 m (4,590 ft.), July. White-throated Needletail is a large black and white swift. Nominate breeds Siberia to Northeast China, the Russian Far East, and Japan and winters in New Guinea and Australia. Rare passage migrant Shanghai. Race nudipes at least partly resident from western Himalaya to Sichuan. Flies skillfully and at high speeds over ridges, forests, and lakes. Has square tail and conspicuous white chin, throat, and undertail coverts. Forehead and superloral narrowly white in nominate, black in nudipes. (Craig Brelsford)
