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  Profile

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  In flight

Speed Demons

Little Swift

Apus affinis

• epic
• 128 km/h
• Least Concern

Square white rump, dumpy little body, breeds in old buildings across Africa and the Middle East. Compact courier.

Population

Global population size unknown/not quantified by IUCN (species too widespread/common for a global estimate); European breeding population estimated by BirdLife at 1,500-4,800 mature individuals (~750-2,400 pairs), a marginal fraction of the species' total range

Habitat

Open country, towns and villages, rocky gorges/overhangs and cliffs, plus subtropical/tropical forest, grassland, savanna and shrubland per its extensive range; nests on cliff faces, in caves/gorges, and increasingly on man-made structures (buildings, bridges, culverts, the angle between roof and wall) from sea level up to about 3,000 m elevation

Fun fact

The Little Swift builds an untidy, hemispherical nest of feathers and plant debris glued together with its own saliva under eaves, in building cavities, or on cliffs/culverts, and shows strong site fidelity - returning to and rebuilding the same nest site year after year; it is also known to cluster around or take over the mud nests of swallows and martins.

Range

Widespread resident and partial migrant across sub-Saharan and northern Africa (Maghreb), the Middle East, and South Asia (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka), with a small breeding outpost in southern Spain/Portugal; extent of occurrence ~60.6 million km² (breeding) across 80+ countries/territories; Western Palearctic and southern African populations are migratory while tropical populations are largely resident

Diet

Aerial insectivore - catches flying invertebrates ("all kinds of flying insects") on the wing, sometimes foraging 15-20 km from the nest site; drinks by skimming open water in flight and never voluntarily lands on the ground

Size

0.12 m

Wingspan

0.33 m

Lifespan

10.5 years