File:Crested Tree Swift Parental Care.webm

English: As a wildlife storyteller, it has been a great honor to document the entire process of the Crested Treeswift's life cycle. After years of waiting to observe this bird in its natural habitat, I was fortunate enough to witness the nesting, hatching, and parental care of the chick. It brings immense joy to see the chick now grown, ready to find its own path in the forest.

The Crested Treeswift is a medium-sized bird with swift-like characteristics and long tail-streamers. Adults are distinguished by a dark greenish-blue crest, visible while perched, typically on trees. They have uniform pale gray upperparts, black lores with a fine white border above, and males exhibit a rufous coloration on the face. Their underwing feathers, breast, and flanks are pale gray, and the belly is whitish. Females, in contrast, have a dark mask replacing the rufous facial coloring of the males. This species prefers lightly wooded areas, avoiding open plains and wet forests. While they are mostly seen in flight, they can occasionally be spotted perched, making their characteristic “gek-kuk” call.

Crested Treeswifts lay a single blue-grey egg, incubated by both sexes. The nest is so small that incubating birds appear as if they are merely perched on a knotted branch. During incubation, which is done by both parents, the nestling is brooded continuously through the down-plumage stage and is fed by both parents.

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