Swift Apus apus

Suffolk Priority Species

The Swift, Apus apus, is a supremely aerial summer migrant belonging to the family Apodidae, and among the most extraordinary birds on earth. Scythe-winged, sooty-brown, and screaming through summer skies in frantic low-level chases, it is instantly recognisable. Swifts are almost entirely aerial – eating, drinking, mating, and sleeping on the wing – coming to land only to nest, and are incapable of taking off from a flat surface. They breed in the roof spaces and eaves of older buildings, returning to the same sites year after year, and are intimately associated with historic town centres and church towers. Swifts arrive late in May and depart by early August, giving one of the shortest presences of any summer migrant. The species has declined significantly due to the loss of nest sites from building renovations and is listed as an Amber List species. Image: © Neil Rolph, Flickr.

Find out more: RSPB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, iNaturalist, SWT Save Our Swifts

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