In the normal scheme of things swifts fly high above the ground in search of various arthropods, mostly insects, which are carried aloft. They also utilize several less typical foraging tactics on some occasions. These would include sweeping up against forest trees (Collins, 1968; Fischer, 1958) or dropping helicopter-fashion down through the foliage (George, 1971) to gather food items, as well as low level foraging flights over ground or water. The latter tactic is frequently utilized during particularly cold and/or stormy weather when few flying insects are available (Lack and Owen, 1955).