COMMONWEALTH of the ORTHERN MARIANAS lSL\NDS

• Farallon de PajalllS (Uracas) t'lMaul • Asundon

• Alamapn • GUlluan

• Sarigan _ Anatahan /d:~~::'~lla

Saipan

Tinjan IDENTIFICATIO THREATS and CONSERVATION -AgUiguan

Swiftlets are small, black with slightly are vulnerable to disturbances in their lighter breasts. They have long, narrow nesting caves. wwn cave occupations and Distribution in the CNMI pointed wings to help them fly quickly. They bombings, vandalism, , rats and * Locally Extinct have a dark line through their eye and a square other feral have caused disturbances to * shaped tail. habitat. Other threats to nesting areas include visits by cavers, collectors of war HABITAT and FEEDING memorabilia, worshipers and naturalists. A The Mariana swiftlet is endemic to the few caves are visited by Japanese tourists who Marianas Islands and exists today only in bring prayer sticks for relatives that have died and Aguiguan. Swiftlets use echolocation there. On Guam, the Brown treesnake (Boiga bar/sehi to find their way in and out of the limestone irregularis) climbs to cave ceilings to eat birds, caves where they roost and nest. They make eggs and chicks. On other islands, cockroaches very fast clicking sounds that bounce off the feed on the saliva that adheres nests to ceilings walls of the caves, helping them maneuver in and walls, causing nests to fall and destroy the the dark. contents. ARTIST DOUGUlS They leave their caves in mass at dawn to The Mariana swiftlet is a protected native PRArr forage for insects over grasslands and high forest in the CNMl. It is listed as an cliff ridges. Swiftlets are constantly in motion, endangered species by both the US Fish and flying and swooping down on insects, catching Wildlife Service and locally by the Division of them in mid-flight. The entire flock returns to Fish and Wildlife. It is illegal to hunt, kill or the cave at sunset They do not rest or perch possess the swiftlet without a permit issued by unless they are in their caves. the CNMl Division of Fish and Wildlife. The • • • taking of eggs or nests is also prohibited SWiftlets find their REPRODUCTION without a permit. way in and out of dark limestone caves by making Swiftlets build their nests on the walls of Biologists have been placing poison clicking sounds and judging limestone caves. The nests are built out of bait traps inside the caves to help reduce the moss and fastened to the sides of caves with the distance as sounds number of cockroaches. Efforts are being bounce back. the bird's saliva. Swiftlet nests are very small, made to keep the Brown treesnake out of the just over two inches in diameter. The female CNMl. FACTOIDI usually lays only one egg.

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