Details
Apus apus
The common swift is a migratory Palearctic bird that spends most of its life in the air. With scythe-shaped wings, it flies fast and catches tiny airborne prey.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
During breeding it nests in crevices of buildings, cliffs, and old masonry, feeding in open airspace. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely through Afrotropical skies.
Length is 16-17 cm and weight 31-56 g. It is dark brown overall with a pale throat, long curved wings, and a short forked tail.
Diurnal birds breed in colonies. Highly specialized for flight, they feed, rest, and often mate on the wing.
A carnivore, it catches small flying insects and airborne spiders in flight. Weather strongly affects the height and location of feeding.
Pairs make simple nests in holes in buildings or cliffs. Chicks are fed balls of tiny insects carried in the parents' throats.
It is listed as Least Concern. Renovation of buildings can remove nest holes, making urban breeding sites an important conservation issue.
