It is known as one of the world's fastest birds, able to reach an estimated top speed of 105mph.
Sightings of the White-throated Needletail are incredibly rare in the UK so when one was spotted on the Isles of Harris it caused quite a stir with Twitchers.
Dozens of birdwatchers who made the journey to Scotland to witness the bird were, however, left devastated after it was killed by a wind turbine as they watched.
Sightings of the bird in the United Kingdom are incredibly rare with just eight recorded spottings in nearly 170 years and most recently over twenty years ago. As a consequence up to 30 ornithologists rushed to the island hoping to catch a glimpse.
One birdwatcher, David Campbell, from Surrey, told the BBC the bird was killed on Wednesday. "We just watched the whole thing with dismay," he said.
This
bird, which winters in Australia and had only been spotted in the UK eight
times before, is a type of Swift and the world’s fastest-flying bird. We stayed
for a while to catch a glimpse, with many others pitching up too. It was quite
a scene.
This
afternoon, however, news has reached the mainland that this very same
White-throated Needletail is no more, having flown straight into one of the
island’s wind turbines where it ‘was killed instantly’.
This
small tragedy raises the issue of just how much damage wind turbines might
cause to wildlife – and particularly birds and bats.