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Papuan Spinetail
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Papuan Spinetail
Mearnsia novaeguineae
The Papuan spine-tailed swift (Mearnsia novaeguineae), also known as the Papuan needletail, New Guinea spine-tailed swift or Papua spinetail, is a small (11.5 cm in length), stocky swift with a short, rounded tail and very fast flight. Head and upperparts glossy blue-black, white or whitish belly and undertail coverts, dark underwing with pale central stripe. The small spines at the end of the tail are not visible in flight.
From the article Papuan spinetail on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Mearnsia novaeguineae is a small (11.5 cm in length), stocky swift with a short, rounded tail. Tail spines extend up to 1 mm beyond the web of the tail. Head and upperparts glossy green-black, grey-throat with a white underside. Wings display hooked ends, and are widest at the middle before tapering into the body.
Range & habitat
Endemic to New Guinea where it is widespread in the lowlands and hills up to 550 m. In 2004, the species was first recorded in Australia when three individuals were observed on Boigu Island, Queensland.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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Every page naming Mearnsia novaeguineae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 6860.