Little swift
Little swift | |
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In South Africa | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Strisores |
Order: | Apodiformes |
Family: | Apodidae |
Genus: | Apus |
Species: | A. affinis
|
Binomial name | |
Apus affinis (JE Gray, 1830)
| |
Summer Resident[2] |
The little swift (Apus affinis), is a small species of
Description
Little swifts are readily identified by their small size. Their wingspan is only 33 cm compared to 42 cm in the case of
Habits and foraging
Little swifts spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks. They drink on the wing, but roost on vertical cliffs or walls. They never settle voluntarily on the ground.
Movements
Unlike the more northerly common swift, many birds are resident, but some populations are migratory, and these winter further south than their breeding areas. They wander widely on migration, and are seen as rare vagrants in much of Europe and Asia.
Breeding
Little swifts breed around habitation and cliffs from southern Spain,[4] Africa northeastwards through southern Pakistan and India and Sri Lanka. They build their nests in holes in buildings or sometimes on cliffs, laying 1–4 eggs. A little swift will return to the same site year after year, rebuilding its nest when necessary. A species of bedbug Cimex hemipterus has been recorded from its nest in India.[5][6]
Gallery
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Dorsal view in India – displaying the square, white rump patch
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A flock assembling at dusk in Tanzania
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Nesting in Hyderabad, India
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Eggs of Apus affinis
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ISBN 1-873403-83-6.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Apus affinis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 13/10/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 13/10/2013.
- ^ Horvath G (1912). "Revision of the American Cimicidae". Ann. Hist. Nat. Mus. Hungary. 10: 257–262.
- ^ Hicks, Ellis A (1959). Checklist and bibliography on the occurrence of insects in birds' nests. Iowa State College Press, Ames.
External links
- Media related to Apus affinis at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Apus affinis at Wikispecies
- Apus affinis in Field Guide: Birds of the World on Flickr
- "Apus affinis". Avibase.
- Little swift - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.