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  • Swift

Swift

Swift
Swift
  • Scientific name: Apus apus
  • Bird family: Swifts
  • UK conservation status: Amber
  • Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Swift call audio

Your browser does not support this audio feature.

Patrik Aberg, Xeno-canto

Key information

The swift is a medium-sized aerial bird, which is a superb flier. It evens sleeps on the wing! It is plain sooty brown, but in flight against the sky it appears black. It has long, scythe-like wings and a short, forked tail. It is a summer visitor, breeding across the UK, but most numerously in the south and east. It winters in Africa.

What they eat:

Flying insects and airborne spiders.

Measurements:

Length:
16-17cm
Wingspan:
42-48cm
Weight:
36-50g

Population:

UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually. UK wintering is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.
UK breeding:
59,000 pairs

Identifying features:

Swift

Flying Swift illustration
Feather colour: Black Brown Cream/buff White
Leg colour: Brown
Beak: Black Short Thin
Natural habitats: Farmland Grassland Urban and suburban Wetland

Similar birds:

Swifts, swallows and martins often get confused for one another, but it's easier than you might think to tell them apart.

Swifts are dark, sooty brown all over, but often look black against the sky. If you get a good look, you might see their pale throat. The wings are long and narrow, with a tail that is slightly forked, but not as much as a swallow's. Swifts have a piercing, screaming call, but they aren't noisy at the nest.

Swifts nest in holes - often inside old buildings or sometimes in specially-designed swift nestboxes - so you'll never see them building a nest outside. In fact, if you can see an obvious nest, it's definitely not a swift! You'll see swifts flying low and fast around buildings, screaming loudly, or perhaps swooping fast into a little crevice in a building to their nests. You won't see them perching on telegraph wires or fences; they have tiny feet and legs and can hardly walk!

Swallows have dark, glossy blue backs, wings and heads, with a reddish patch under the chin. Their long, forked tails are distinctive. Swallows have a twittering song, which they give from a perch on a fence or building, or while they're flying. You can often see swallows perching on wires, especially around migration time, when they gather in flocks.

Like swifts, house martins often live in built-up areas. They build their nests under the eaves of houses. House martins have glossy blue upperparts, similar to a swallow, but the white rump is distinctive. Their tail is also forked, but much shorter than a swallow's. Their call is a sharp 'jik, jik' with some twittering. Like swifts, swallows and sand martins, you could see them over any lake or river, flying around to catch insects.

Sand martins are similar in shape to house martins. Their backs and wings are brown - perhaps a bit like a swift - but their underside is white with a brown breast-band. As the name suggests, sand martins make burrows in sandy river banks or even heaps of sand at quarries!

House martin in flight
House martin
Sand martin
Sand martin
Flying Swallow illustration
Swallow

Where and when to see them

Look up in the sky in summer, often very high. They never perch on wires like swallows. You might see excited screaming parties of them careering madly at high speed around rooftops and houses, often low, especially towards dusk.

* This map is intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.
  • Resident
  • Passage
  • Summer
  • Winter
Swift distribution map

Swifts can be seen from April to August.

  • jan
  • feb
  • mar
  • apr
  • may
  • jun
  • jul
  • aug
  • sep
  • oct
  • nov
  • dec
Close-up of a swift's head

Help swifts

Help us take swift action to change the fortunes of this unique and iconic bird. Keep your eyes peeled for nests and download or use the Swift Mapper app!

Go to Swift Mapper

In more depth

Breeding and nesting habits

Breeding and nesting habits

Distribution and migration

Distribution and migration

Helping swifts

Helping swifts

What do swifts eat?

What do swifts eat?

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Swift Mapper

Find out how you can help threatened swifts using the new Swift Mapper.
Swifts flying over rooftops

Swift migration

Swifts need warm weather to provide a constant supply of flying insects, so they spend only about three months in the UK

Create a high home for swifts

Set up a nestbox to give summer-visiting swifts a place to nest and breed year after year.

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