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Common Swift | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Common Swift

Apus apus

AvesOpen airspace over towns, farmland and open country; nests in building cavities and cliffsLeast Concern

Field profile

The common swift is a highly aerial bird with long scythe-shaped wings and very short legs. It catches all its food on the wing and nests in cavities, increasingly in buildings. Unrelated to swallows, its resemblance to them is a case of convergence.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2026-04-27

Common Swift

Common swifts stay airborne for months at a time

Tracking devices carried by common swifts showed non-breeding birds remaining in flight for most of a ten-month period, with some individuals recording no landing at all between breeding seasons. They feed, drift and apparently sleep on the wing.

Read with evidence →