Pallid swift  (Apus pallidus)

Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1).

The pallid swift is a small, highly aerial bird with a forked tail and crescent-shaped wings (5). Its name comes from the Latin word ‘apous’ meaning ‘without feet’, which actually refers to its very short legs, and the word ‘pallidus’ meaning ‘pale’ (4) (5), in reference to the greyish buff-brown plumage. The pallid swift has a large light-coloured patch on the throat and a light forehead, and the wings are also lighter than the body and have a dark leading edge (6).

This species has a wide distribution over Europe and Africa, from France east to Pakistan, and south to Zambia (7). It migrates further south during winter (2).

Being mostly aerial, the pallid swift can inhabit a great variety of environments. Populations found in the Mediterranean typically breed on cliffs and other rocky areas (3). Populations elsewhere are also found in marine or coastal areas, as well as grassland, savannah, gardens, and even highly urbanised areas (8).

The pallid swift spends much of its life in the air; it feeds, drinks, mates and even sleeps on the wing. Its diet consists entirely of small insects caught in flight (9). As an adaptation to this lifestyle, it has very short legs that are only used to hold on to vertical surfaces, such as cliff faces (5).

The pallid swift lays between one and three eggs, but its clutch size varies depending on when in the season it is laid (7). The eggs are incubated for an average of 20 days (7).

With a stable global population estimated to be between 250,000 and 2,000,000 individuals, the pallid swift is not currently considered to be threatened (2).

There are no known conservation measures in place for the pallid swift.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

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