Hello and welcome.

This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

And I'm happy to say that it is random bird Thursday.

In this relatively short, mostly unscripted episode, I'll be spotlighting a bird species that probably won't get featured in a full-length episode.

Because there are over 11,000 bird species in the world, Random Bird Thursday is our chance to celebrate a species we might otherwise overlook.

So without further ado, let me push the random bird selector button here, and let's see who we're talking about today.

Okay, we've got a good one here.

We've got white-throated needle tail.

Herendapis Cotacutus.

So this is a type of swift.

It's a rather large swift and it's found primarily in Asia, but also in Australia.

And we'll get to all of that, of course.

Now, as you may or may not know, I've spent quite a bit of time in Asia.

In the last year or so, I had two big trips, each of them about two and a half months long each.

And so I've been in places where the white-throated needle tail is found.

And how many white-throated needle tails have I seen?

Zero.

Now, the thing is, they were probably zipping around through the sky right over my head,

but I just didn't see them.

And to be fair, I wasn't probably looking super hard for them. So yeah, it was

...