FIELD FACTS

THE SWIFT

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Apus apus.

APPEARANCE: Swifts are often confused with three similar but unrelated species – the swallow, the house martin and the sand martin. Swifts are a dark, sooty brown but can often look black against the sky. They have a small light patch on their throat and have narrow, scytheshaped wings.

WEIGHT: 3650g.

WINGSPAN: 4248cm.

LENGTH: 1617cm.

DIET: Insects such as aphids, flying ants, mosquitoes, hoverflies and small beetles. Swifts drink by catching raindrops in the air, or by flying low over water and skimming the surface.