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.
The red-rumped swallow is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in open hilly country of temperate southern Europe and Asia from Portugal and Spain to Japan, India, Sri Lanka and tropical Africa. The Indian and African birds are resident, but European and other Asian birds are migratory. They winter in Africa or India and are vagrants to Christmas Island and northern Australia.
The alpine swift is a species of swift found in Africa, southern Europe and Asia. They breed in mountains from southern Europe to the Himalaya. Like common swifts, they are migratory; the southern European population winters further south in southern Africa. They have very short legs which are used for clinging to vertical surfaces. Like most swifts, they never settle voluntarily on the ground, spending most of their lives in the air living on the insects they catch in their beaks.
The little swift, is a small species of swift found in Africa and southwestern Asia, and are vagrants and local breeders in southern Europe. They are found both in urban areas and at rocky cliffs where they build nests in a way typical of all members of the order Apodiformes. The genus name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow without feet. The Latin specific affinis means similar to or related to, but in this case the species that the little swift supposedly resembles is not clear from the description. A population formerly considered to be an eastern subspecies of little swift is now separated as a distinct species, the house swift.
The house swift is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Japan, Nepal, and Southeast Asia. It is capable of flying long distances by alternately shutting off hemispheres of its brain in-flight.
The pallid swift is a swift. Swifts have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. The genus name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet, and pallidus is Latin for "pale". They never settle voluntarily on the ground. Swifts spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks. They drink on the wing.
The Pacific swift or fork-tailed swift is a species of bird that is part of the Swift family. It breeds in eastern Asia. It is strongly migratory, spending the northern hemisphere's winter in Southeast Asia and Australia. The general shape and blackish plumage recall its relative, the common swift, from which it is distinguished by a white rump band and heavily marked underparts. The sexes are identical in appearance, although young birds can be identified by pale fringes to the wing feathers that are absent in adults. This swift's main call is a screech typical of its family. It is one of a group of closely related Asian swifts formerly regarded as one species.
The white-throated needletail, also known as needle-tailed swift or spine-tailed swift, is a large swift in the genus Hirundapus. It is reputed to reach speeds of up to 170 km/h in horizontal flight, but this is unverified because the methods used to measure its speed have not been published.
The red-breasted swallow, also known as the rufous-chested swallow, is a member of the family Hirundinidae, found in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is confined to the tropical rainforest during the wet season.
The brown-backed needletail, or brown needletail, is a large swift.
The plain swift is a medium-sized swift. Although this bird is superficially similar to a barn swallow or house martin, it is not related to those passerine species. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles.
The African black swift, also known as the African swift or black swift, is a medium-sized bird in the swift family. It breeds in Africa discontinuously from Liberia, Cameroon, Zaire, Uganda and Kenya southwards to South Africa. The "black swifts" of Madagascar and the Comoros are either taken as two subspecies of the African black swift, or otherwise deemed a full species, the Malagasy black swift.
The Antillean palm swift is a species of bird in subfamily Apodinae of the swift family Apodidae. It is found on the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola.
The Horus swift is a small bird in the swift family. Horus, whose name this bird commemorates, was the ancient Egyptian god of the sun, son of Osiris and Isis.
The lesser striped swallow is a large swallow. It breeds in Sub-Saharan Africa from Sierra Leone and southern Sudan south into eastern South Africa. It is partially migratory with South African birds wintering further north. West African birds leave the north of the breeding range in the dry season.
The white-throated swallow is a small bird in the swallow family. It is a common species, found in southern Africa, which has benefited from the increased nesting opportunities presented by the construction of bridges and dams.
The tree martin is a member of the swallow family of passerine birds. It breeds in Australia, mostly south of latitude 20°S and on Timor island. It is migratory, wintering through most of Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia east of the Wallace Line and the Solomon Islands. It is a vagrant to New Zealand, where it has bred, and New Caledonia. This species is frequently placed in the genus Hirundo as Hirundo nigricans.
Bates's swift is a species of small swift in the family Apodidae which is found in western Africa.
