OTHER NAMES: Swift, Screamer, Devil-bird, Screech Martin
Latin Etymology: Apus ("swift") apus ("swift")
Adult Common Swift (subspecies A. a. apus) at Geddington, Northants - July 2012
Featured Subspecies: Apus apus apus
Weight: 35-56g / Length: 16-17cm / Wingspan: 38-40cm
UK AMBER STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern
The swift is a widespread and common Summer visitor to the UK - it is larger than the unrelated swallows and martins and can be distinguished by having no easily visible white on it and it's long scythe blade shaped wings. The trick with this species is that it's very hard to photograph - the fundamental problem being that it is a species which it's a species which rarely willingly lands to the point where they sleep on the wing and furthermore is one of the fastest birds in the UK. In the end I have had to settle with manually focusing on somewhere where they are feeding and taking sequential photo's until a legible one turns up - quite possibly the most difficult "common" bird to photograph.
The swift is a widespread and common Summer visitor to the UK - it is larger than the unrelated swallows and martins and can be distinguished by having no easily visible white on it and it's long scythe blade shaped wings. The trick with this species is that it's very hard to photograph - the fundamental problem being that it is a species which it's a species which rarely willingly lands to the point where they sleep on the wing and furthermore is one of the fastest birds in the UK. In the end I have had to settle with manually focusing on somewhere where they are feeding and taking sequential photo's until a legible one turns up - quite possibly the most difficult "common" bird to photograph.
Related Species:
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Apodidae
Genus: Apus
Subspecies: A. a. apus, A. a. pekinensis
- Sighting Locations -
- MADRID 2016 TRIP: Common in Madrid and Monfrague National Park.
Subspecies: A. a. apus, A. a. pekinensis
- Sighting Locations -
UNITED KINGDOM - Common Summer migrant breeder (87,000 pairs)
- Seen at a large number of sites, including but not limited to Geddington, Kettering. Rutland Water and Rainham Marshes.
SICILY 2018 TRIP - Very common throughout.
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