swift

Apus apus

• Dark all over
   
• Pale throats
   
• Narrow, scythe-shaped wings

Look for groups of screaming birds dashing between buildings, or almost invisible high specks swooping after insects in the dusk.
 

Where found

Low over meadows or high over buildings. They nest in cracks in masonry or on rafters. Except when on the nest, they spend their whole lives, even sleeping, on the wing.
 

When to look for

• A summer visitor arriving in late April/early May.
   
• Leaving from late July/August onwards.

Did you know?

• Swifts use the same nest year after year, merely adding fresh material, which is caught in the air
  
  
• A young swift can be hundreds of miles south to African winter quarters 48 hours after leaving the nest
  
  
• For their size swifts are long-lived, and individuals up to 21 years old are on record
  
  
• In abnormally cold weather swifts may throw out complete clutches of eggs from their nests
  
  
• Swifts have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, preferring vertical surfaces
  
  
• The swifts are superficially similar to swallows but are actually not closely related to them at all
  
  
• Except when on the nest, swifts spend their whole lives, even sleeping, on the wing