Swifts and Us: The Life of the Bird that Sleeps in the Sky

Product Information

Swifts live in perpetual summer. They inhabit the air like nothing else on the planet. They watched the continents shuffle to their present positions and the mammals evolve. They are not ours, though we like to claim them. They defy all our categories and present no passports as they surf the winds across the world. They sleep in the air, their wings controlled by an alert half-brain. Yet for all their adaptability and longevity swifts have recently been added to the UK’s Red List of endangered birds. The wingtip bones of swiftlets are of proportionately greater length than those of most other birds. Changing the angle between the bones of the wingtips and forelimbs allows swifts to alter the shape and area of their wings to increase their efficiency and maneuverability at various speeds. [10] They share with their relatives the hummingbirds a unique ability to rotate their wings from the base, allowing the wing to remain rigid and fully extended and derive power on both the upstroke and downstroke. [11] The downstroke produces both lift and thrust, while the upstroke produces a negative thrust (drag) that is 60% of the thrust generated during the downstrokes, but simultaneously it contributes lift that is also 60% of what is produced during the downstroke. This flight arrangement might benefit the bird's control and maneuverability in the air. [12] Fast: Very fast as compared to other popular programming languages, such as Objective-C and Python• Swiftlets of Borneo: Builders of Edible Nests Lim Chan Koon and Earl Of Cranbroom Natural History Publications (Borneo)

One Midsummer’s Day by Mark Cocker review – soaring with swifts

The Breeding Distribution and Habitats of the Pied Flycatcher (Muscicapa Hypoleuca) in Britain - Bruce Campbell The Breeding Biology of the Chimney Swift: Chaetura pelagica R.B. Fischer New York State Museum Bulletin, Vol 368 The first book to clearly study the complicated ecology of these birds. With chapters on exploitation, conservation, and birds'-nest cave management. Since the close of the 16th century AD, the edible nests of swiftlets have roused the perplexed curiosity of European travellers to South-east Asia, while at the same time providing one of the most important constituents of traditional Chinese medicine. For both cultures-western and eastern-this book clarifies the nature of these nests, the troglodytic lives of the birds that build them, and the exploitation of this highly valuable natural resource. Borneo is now the world's most important source of wild edible nests. These are built by three species of swiftlets. Regional differences in management of swiftlets in the various limestone caves of Borneo are reviewed. The authors also describe the emergence of swiftlet house-farming, which they see as inevitable. For many readers this section of the book will be of great interest, outlining the hope of an amalgam between a prosperous domestic industry and sustainable management of wild populations." Kaufman, Kenn (2001). Lives of North American Birds. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-618-15988-6.Scalable: It is highly scalable and allows easily adding functionalities to the product and/or bringing in additional developers The family name, Apodidae, is derived from the Greek ἄπους ( ápous), meaning "footless", a reference to the small, weak legs of these most aerial of birds. [2] [3] The tradition of depicting swifts without feet continued into the Middle Ages, as seen in the heraldic martlet.

Swift Programming Language (Swift 5.7‪)‬ - Apple Books The Swift Programming Language (Swift 5.7‪)‬ - Apple Books

As for the way the book was written, it seems like it won't be a good starting point for beginners. The programming language itself looks okay for beginners, but the book looks like it tends to someone with more experience with other languages first.Offer multiple approaches to learning a topic, including hands-on exercises, source code, and detailed explanations. Swift for Beginners by Boisy G. Pitre accommodates the evolving features of this rapidly adopted language. The book guides you to write Swift code, using Playgrounds to instantly see the results of your work. It gives you a solid grounding in key Swift language concepts including variables, constants, types, arrays, and dictionaries.

Swifts and Us: The Life of the Bird that Sleeps in the Sky Swifts and Us: The Life of the Bird that Sleeps in the Sky

Swifts are among the fastest of birds in level flight, and larger species like the white-throated needletail have been reported travelling at up to 169km/h (105mph). [7] Even the common swift can cruise at a maximum speed of 31 metres per second (112km/h; 70mph). In a single year the common swift can cover at least 200,000km, [8] and in a lifetime, about two million kilometers. [9]

This work collates late-1990s research findings from the field of ornithology to provide a thoroughly modern overview of swift identification and distribution. This edition has revised artwork and maps, and much new textual material." The Apodiformes diversified during the Eocene, at the end of which the extant families were present; fossil genera are known from all over temperate Europe, between today's Denmark and France, such as the primitive swift-like Scaniacypselus [5] (Early–Middle Eocene) and the more modern Procypseloides (Late Eocene/Early Oligocene – Early Miocene). A prehistoric genus sometimes assigned to the swifts, Primapus (Early Eocene of England), might also be a more distant ancestor. Corrales, L.; Bautista, L.M.; SantaMaría, T.; Mas, P. (2013). "Hole selection by nesting swifts in medieval city-walls of central Spain" (PDF). Ardeola. 60 (2): 291–304. doi: 10.13157/arla.60.2.2013.291. hdl: 10261/96963. S2CID 84894013. The nest of many species is glued to a vertical surface with saliva, and the genus Aerodramus use only that substance, which is the basis for bird's nest soup. Other swifts select holes and small cavities in walls. [15] The eggs hatch after 19 to 23 days, and the young leave the nest after a further six to eight weeks. Both parents assist in raising the young. [13] The book includes detailed instruction, ample illustrations, and clear examples. It teaches you best practices from an experienced Mac and iOS developer. The book emphasizes how to use Xcode, Playgrounds, and REPL.

Swifts by Beth Lincoln | Waterstones The Swifts by Beth Lincoln | Waterstones

Swift: A Step-by-Step Guide for Absolute Beginners by Daniel Bell published in 2019 introduces the readers to the foundations of the Swift programming language. Easy-to-read: It is very easy to read or maintain. The English-like syntax makes it highly readable for novice programmers.• Swifts live almost entirely in the air. They eat, drink, sleep, mate and gather their nesting materials on the wing, fly thousands of miles across the world, navigating their way around storms, never lighting on tree, cliff or ground, until they return home with the summer.Charles Foster is a writer, philosopher and Fellow of Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford. He is the author of Being a Human and the prize-winning Being a Beast, which is the subject of a forthcoming feature film. Knife by Sarah-Jane Dobner Bend down and pinch a ripple of skin. It’s warm and springy, taut to the body.