There is a significant number of birds which naturally catch their prey in flight, including swallows and other hirundines, swifts, nightjars, bee eaters and several other groups. I know that at least some bee eaters have been kept and bred successfully, but does anyone know if any other species with these specializations have been kept successfully anywhere?
Hirundines and other aerial feeders in zoos
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I am given to understand that Wuppertal has kept and bred Barn Swallow for several decades now, with a smattering of other collections within Europe holding smaller populations derived from stock bred at Wuppertal; furthermore, the collection also held and bred House Martin for quite a long time, with the population only dying out in the last few years. The latter species is no longer held in captivity within any public collections, but as noted has managed to survive and breed for long periods in the past. Other hirundine species *have* been held in European collections over the years, but none have fared as well as the House Martin or Barn Swallow.
As far as swifts go, the two species native to Europe have been held for very brief periods - measured in days, very occasionally weeks - but have never survived for long, nor bred to my knowledge.
A smattering of European collections have held nightjar species over the years, but much like the swifts these have fared poorly and survival has generally been brief. The only collection to keep a member of this group alive for long was Wuppertal again, which kept a single European Nightjar alive for 8 years in total from 1984 until 1992.
The common denominator between all three of these groups, to the best of my knowledge, is that the *vast* majority of captive records pertain to rescued individuals; as such the brief survival periods may well be due to the condition of the individuals when taken into captivity, rather than anything intrinsic to the species in question.
As far as swifts go, the two species native to Europe have been held for very brief periods - measured in days, very occasionally weeks - but have never survived for long, nor bred to my knowledge.
A smattering of European collections have held nightjar species over the years, but much like the swifts these have fared poorly and survival has generally been brief. The only collection to keep a member of this group alive for long was Wuppertal again, which kept a single European Nightjar alive for 8 years in total from 1984 until 1992.
The common denominator between all three of these groups, to the best of my knowledge, is that the *vast* majority of captive records pertain to rescued individuals; as such the brief survival periods may well be due to the condition of the individuals when taken into captivity, rather than anything intrinsic to the species in question.
Back in the late 19. and first half of the 20. century, native European birds were commonly sold and kept as pets. At that time occasional enthusiasts kept and bred swallows, swifts and nightjars. Often, although apparently not every individual, they learned to eat and drink from the bowl. One memory of this is the monumental book of Oscar Heinroth who raised every single bird species in Europe from egg to document chick development.
I have seen Barn Swallows before at the DeYoung Family Zoo. They were kept in a simple birdcage, but had chicks. I have seen a rescue Purple Martin at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.
Tawny Frogmouths are kept in many collections acrosss Australia, and fare very well in captivity.
I am sceptical that swifts have been bred in captivity. Oscar Heinroth reared most European birds but did not breed them they were from wild harvested eggs and young.
Somewhere, in an early Avicultural Magazine, there is a record of hand rearing Swifts. As I remember, they fed greedily from dishes, but, as one would expect in a cage, were inactive, and survived only a few months.
Heinroth bred Nightjars, and I have a note somewhere of non-releasable wild casualty Common Nighthawks being used as encounter animals.
The hand-rearing techniques for Swifts is much better nowadays. There are lots of documents online for doing so. This person rears about 70 for release every year in Germany, although notes that it needs specific techniques to be successful: Commonswift, Mauersegler, Apus apus, Martinet noir, Gierzwaluw, Swift pictures, Vencejo comun, chernyi strizh, Mauersegler Fotos, Swift pictures, Bibliography, airstrokes
You should check some old yellowing avicultural magazines from the last century
But how can they have mated in captivity by a private breeder, as they do this in the air, they would need a huge aviary for that, collecting the eggs would be a much more logical explanation....
I've done that, and am still not convinced that Swifts can be maintained long term, or that they have been bred.You should check some old yellowing avicultural magazines from the last century
However, I do have a hybrid bee-eater reference. International Zoo News Vol.59/6 (no.397), November/December 2012, pp464-466, Jean Jacques Lesuer describes Bee-eater husbandry at Attica Zoological Park in Greece. European Bee-eaters were breeding in good numbers, and a single hybrid with a 'Scarlet' Bee-eater was produced, in the same nest as a single pure European chick.
This is in addition to the hybrid breeding mentioned earlier.
You should check some old yellowing avicultural magazines from the last century
I have. I am a long-term student of aviculture history and have a series of Avicultural Magazine that goes back to the early years of the 20th century. I have found accounts of breeding swallows, and hand-rearing swifts, but breeding them in captivity is another issue. Some remarkable species have been bred in captivity and swifts would be a real challenge.
I'm pretty sure David Lack's classic work, Swifts in a Tower, debunks the aerial mating idea; they actually mate on the nest. I would be very surprised if any bird turned out to copulate while airborne.
I am away from my old books, but I am pretty sure I read of a hobbyist who bred Alpine Swifts and European Nightjars. Note, that this was probably at the turn of 19./20. century, a private person in Germany. Of course, it was likely that he chosen one in 1000 swifts most adaptable to captivity. And nobody bothers with this species today, even if it was legal. If you really want, I can try to dig the reference but it would take months.
I also knew a late ornithologist who kept a flightless injured Common Swift in his collection for years. The Swift was never able to do much except cling around. Later he raised >100 of orphaned Swifts and released them. He was an incredible person, ornithologist and illustrator who converted his city flat (and life) into raising and rehabilitating injured songbirds. He occasionally welcomed people to come and help him prepared bird food. One could hardly move in his flat, because when you made a step, a bird could flutter and land in a place where you was about to put your foot.
I also knew a late ornithologist who kept a flightless injured Common Swift in his collection for years. The Swift was never able to do much except cling around. Later he raised >100 of orphaned Swifts and released them. He was an incredible person, ornithologist and illustrator who converted his city flat (and life) into raising and rehabilitating injured songbirds. He occasionally welcomed people to come and help him prepared bird food. One could hardly move in his flat, because when you made a step, a bird could flutter and land in a place where you was about to put your foot.
Pretty much every recent major work on swifts, including Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 5 and Swifts: A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World (both written by the world's leading authorities on the families) provide detailed descriptions of mating in the air, but note that mating at the nest also occurs in the family (exclusively so in many swiftlets). The common swift is one of the species that uses both strategies. Alexander Wetmore and other leading ornithologists have also published descriptions of breeding in the air by various swift species. However, in a bunch of tropical swift species next-to-nothing is known about their breeding behavior. Since mating in many birds is extremely fast, in several species lasting a second or less, it is not really that much of a feat for a swift to mate in the air compared to some of the other things they do on the wing.
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The people who bred European Nightjars and reared Common and Alpine Swifts were Oskar and Magdalena Heinroth, and this is documented in Die Vogel Mitteleuropas Vol 1. If you can find reference to someone breeding swifts that would be a remarkable record.
Fascinating stuff. Sorry I was unduly sceptical.