# UKBirds

Back

## Common Swift

### Apus apus

The Common Swift is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the Barn Swallow or House Martin but somewhat larger. It is, however, completely unrelated to those passerine species, since swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles. Swifts nearest relatives are thought to be the New World Humming-Birds.
Their scientific name comes from the Ancient Greek words for "without", and "feet". These birds have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces (hence the German name Mauersegler, literally meaning "wall-glider"). They never settle voluntarily on the ground, where they would be vulnerable to accidents and predation.
The Common Swift was one of the many species described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758. The predecessor of the Central European subspecies which lived during the last ice age has been described as Apus apus palapus.
Common Swifts are 16-17 cm long with a wingspan of 38-40 cm and entirely blackish-brown except for a small white or pale grey patch on their chins which is not visible from a distance. They have a short forked tail and very long swept-back wings that resemble a crescent or a boomerang.
The call is a loud scream in two different tone pitches, of which the higher one is from the female and the lower one from the male. They often form 'screaming parties' during summer evenings where about 10-20 Swifts will gather and fly around their nesting area, all calling out to each other, and being answered by other Swifts within the nests. Larger "screaming parties" are formed at higher altituds, especially late in the breeding season. The purpose of these is not known, but it appears to be the case that these parties, or many Swifts in them, will then ascend to sleep on the wing, while still breeding adults tend to spend the night in the nest.
Like Swallows, Common Swifts are migratory. Their summer breeding range runs from Spain and Ireland in the West across to China and Siberia in the East. They breed as far South as North Africa (in Morocco and Algeria) with a presence in the Middle East in Israel, Lebanon and Syria, across Turkey including the whole of Europe, as far North as Norway, Finland and most of sub-Arctic Russia. They migrate down to Africa by a variety of routes, so far poorly understood, ending up in Equatorial and Sub-Equatorial Africa, excluding the Cape. The map on this page is old and probably reflects the limits of Linnaeus' knowledge at the time; in fact Common Swifts do not breed in the Indian Subcontinent.