Swifts are a family of birds that spend almost all their time in the air eating, sleeping and mating. Though they resemble swallows, they are not closely related, with the similarities a result of convergent evolution. Found on every continent except Antarctica, swifts in temperate regions are highly migratory, often covering vast distances between breeding and wintering grounds.
Swifts are among the fastest fliers in the bird world. They have sickle-shaped, swept-back wings with relatively long wingtips which give them incredible speed, agility, and the ability to glide with ease and efficiency. They have forked tails, short, feathered legs, and plain brownish plumage, sometimes marked with patches of white. They are known for their piercing calls, especially when they gather in energetic ‘screaming parties’ on summer evenings.
Their diet is made up almost entirely of aerial insects, including flies, ants, aphids, bees, and wasps, as well as spiders, all of which they catch mid-flight with wide, open beaks.
Swifts nest in cavities or on ledges, using mud to build their nests and sticking them in place with their saliva. They usually lay just two or three eggs, a relatively small clutch for a bird of their size. The incubation period lasts around 20 days, and the young fledge after six to eight weeks, both longer than typical for birds of similar size.
