Silver-backed needletail
Hirundapus cochinchinensis (Oustalet, 1878)
The silver-backed needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis) is a species in the family Apodidae, order Apodiformes. Recorded adults weigh 80 g to 83.8 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the silver-backed needletail
- Weight
- 80 g – 83.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the silver-backed needletail live?
Not recorded
What is the silver-backed needletail?
The silver-backed needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis) is a species of swift in the family Apodidae.
It is found in Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Java and Taiwan. It is a vagrant to Christmas Island.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
From the Wikipedia article “Silver-backed needletail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silver-backed_needletail&oldid=1380578120), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the silver-backed needletail endangered?
The silver-backed needletail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the silver-backed needletail classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderApodiformes
- familyApodidae
- genusHirundapus
- SpeciesHirundapus cochinchinensis (Oustalet, 1878)
Synonyms Chaetura cochinchinensis, Hirundinapus klaesii
Other names and names in other languages (36)
- دبوسي الذيل فضي الظهرArabic
- falciot cuaespinós de la CotxinxinaCatalan
- rorýs bělořitýCzech
- rorýs stříbrohřbetýCzech
- llostfain cefnarianWelsh
- Sølvrygget TornhalesejlerDanish
- GraukehlseglerGerman
- arĝentdorsa apodoEsperanto
- Vencejo de la CochinchinaSpanish
- hallkurk-kammsabaEstonian
- luotikiitäjäFinnish
- Martinet de CochinchineFrench
- bjeloleđa čiopaCroatian
- szürketorkú sarlósfecskeHungarian
- Kapinis-jarum pantat-putihIndonesian
- Kepinis-Jarum Pantat-PutihIndonesian
- Rondone dal dorso argentatoItalian
- Rondone codaspinosa dorsoargentoItalian
- クロビタイハリオアマツバメJapanese
- gelsvagurklis hirundapasLithuanian
- WitbuikstekelstaartgierzwaluwDutch
- sølvryggseilerNorwegian
- igłosternik indochińskiPolish
- andorinhão-da-cochinchinaPortuguese
- andorinhão-de-dorso-prateadoPortuguese
- Серебристый стрижRussian
- Серебристый колючехвостRussian
- srp sedlatýSlovak
- Iglorepa čiopa srebrnih leđaSerbian
- silverryggig taggstjärtseglareSwedish
- นกแอ่นใหญ่หัวตาดำThai
- Gümüş Sırtlı İğnekuyrukTurkish
- колючохвіст бурогорлийUkrainian
- 灰喉針尾雨燕Chinese
- 灰喉針尾雨燕〔銀背針尾雨燕〕Chinese
- 灰喉针尾雨燕Chinese
Relatives of the silver-backed needletail
Other species in the same genus Hirundapus.
White-throated needletail
Hirundapus caudacutus
Brown-backed needletail
Hirundapus giganteus
Purple needletail
Hirundapus celebensis
CompareSilver-backed needletail vs White-throated needletailSilver-backed needletail vs Brown-backed needletailSilver-backed needletail vs Purple needletail
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the silver-backed needletail?
An adult silver-backed needletail weighs 80 g – 83.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the silver-backed needletail endangered?
The silver-backed needletail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the silver-backed needletail?
The silver-backed needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis) belongs to the family Apodidae in the order Apodiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Silver-backed needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/silver-backed-needletail
“Silver-backed needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/silver-backed-needletail.
@misc{silver_backed_needletail_2026,
title = {Silver-backed needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/silver-backed-needletail},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}