I am getting very facinated with swiftlets and took some trouble to identify what they eat and how do these food looks like.
In Swiftlets of Borneo Book, on page 30 title "Diet and Foraging Behaviour", I read this important paragraph:
Swiftlets are insectivorous birds, tracking and capturing airbone prey with the mouth in flight. They prey comprises a wide diversity of arthropods, ranging in weight from 0.01 to 0.69 g. To feed their offspring, the catch is compressed into a food bolus which can be regurgitated at the nest site. By painstaking counts, it has been found that these capsules or norishment may contain from 49 to 1,104 prey items of various sizes. Hymenoptera (winged ants, fig warsp, bees), Diptera (flies), coleoptera (small beetles), Homoptera (leafhoppers),and Ephemeroptera (mayflies) constitute as much as 90% of swiftlet diet.
So I decided to use the google search engine and got these pictures for those who are curious about what are they.
This is Mayfly. They normally breed in ponds or rivers.
This is how Fig Wasps looks like. They breed on Fig Fruits.
Another type of Mayfly. Also Breed in Pond and Rivers.
Leave Hopper Type 1. They are common on Forest canopy.
Leave hopper type 2. Colorful and larger in Size.
Mayfly colorful and juicy.
Horsefly also a favourite food of swiftlet.
Leave Fly yummy for your swiftlets.
Small Bees are also their favorite.
Small Beetles are on their Menu.
More Beetles for your birds:
Beautiful Beetle
Wingged Black Ants
Wingged white ants
Holcocephalal
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