Behavior

Fork-tailed Palm-Swifts spend the majority of their time on the wing, foraging for insects in flight. Other than this general information, little about its behavior is known. The flight is described as "slightly erratic and stiff-winged with rapid, almost vibrating, wing beats" (Hilty and Brown 1986), and the wing beats often are "interrupted by short sails on wings held below horizontal a bit as [the] bird veers to right, then left" (Hilty 2003). They primarily forage low near the ground (Hilty and Brown 1989, ffrench 1991 Marín et al. 1992, Hilty 2003). Fork-tailed Palm-Swifts drink in flight from pools of water (Haverschmidt 1968). Fork-tailed Palm-Swifts roost in palms (Hilty and Brown 1986, Sick 1993, Hilty 2003). In northeastern Brazil, nonbreeding season roosts are larger in urban areas than in more rural settings (Lunardi et al. 2013).

There is no information on territoriality or home range size for Fork-tailed Palm-Swift.

Fork-tailed Palm-Swift presumably is at least socially monogamous; both sexes attend the nest (Carvalho 1962).

Fork-tailed Palm-Swift usually forages in small, loose, single species groups of 3-10 individuals (Hilty and Brown 1986, Hilty 2003, Marín et al. 1992).

No reports of predation on Fork-tailed Palm-Swift?