page_title: Common swift
section_title: Differences between swifts and swallows
hierarchical_section_title: Common swift / Differences between swifts and swallows
caption_attribution_description: English: Common Swift (Apus apus) in flight. Deutsch: Mauersegler (Apus apus) im Flug.
context_page_description: The common swift is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution, reflecting similar contextual development. The swifts' nearest relatives are the New World hummingbirds and the Southeast Asian treeswifts.
  Its scientific name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet.
  Swifts have very short legs which they use primarily for clinging to vertical surfaces. They never settle voluntarily on the ground, where they would be vulnerable to accidents and predation, and non-breeding individuals may spend up to ten months in continuous flight.
context_section_description: The barn swallow and house martin hunt for airborne insects in a manner similar to that of the slightly larger swift, and occasionally mixed groups of the species form. The most noticeable differences between the three types are:
  The shrill scream of the swift distinguishes itself from the more inconspicuous babbling of the swallow.
  The narrow sickle-shaped wings of the swift are longer than its body, and its silhouette in the air resembles an anchor.
  The swift's wingbeats are deep and quick, and the swift glides for longer. The swallow's flight is more fluttering, and it presses its wings further to the rear during beats.
  The underside of a swift, with the exception of the white spot under its chin, is entirely dark brown. Swallows show a beige-white underside. They can also be recognized by the long forks in their tails.
caption: Swift
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