Common swift
Apus apus
A dark aerial bird with long scythe-shaped wings and a short forked tail. Confirmed in Georgia as a breeding migrant on the 2024 national bird checklist; it does not stay the winter.
At a glance
Key facts in one look
Diet
Flying insects
Status in Georgia
Breeding migrant
Size
16–17 cm
Habitat
Towns, cliffs, open air
Family
Apodidae
Conservation
LC / Europe NT
Human interaction: It is not venomous and is harmless. Wild birds must not be kept. A grounded swift is usually unable to take off from flat ground; seek local wildlife advice rather than keeping it as a pet.
Overview
What is Common swift
The common swift (Apus apus) is a medium-small aerial insectivore (family Apodidae) confirmed in Georgia as a breeding migrant. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia codes it BB; M: a breeder that is absent in the non-breeding season, and also a bird of passage. Seasonality is classed as high-quality (code A). Occurrence quality is high (H), with photographs. SABUKO lists the Georgian name ნამგალა. Adults are about 16–17 cm long at species level, sooty brown-black, with long crescent wings and a short forked tail. It is not a threat to people. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern globally. The 2024 checklist assigns the same category nationally. The 2021 European Red List of Birds assesses it as Near Threatened in Europe.
Last updated
Gallery
Common swift in photos
Photo: Janne Teivonen
Dubrovnik ·
Photo: Luis Ferreira
Paço de Arcos ·
Photo: Christoph Moning
Chipiona, Cádiz ·
Photo: Christoph Moning
Chipiona, Cádiz ·
Photo: euqirneto
Ponte de Lima ·
Identification
How to identify Common swift
A sooty dark bird with long scythe-shaped wings and a short forked tail, almost always seen in flight. In Georgia it is a breeding migrant on the 2024 checklist, not a winter bird. Usual confusion is swallows/martins and other swifts.
- 01
Length about 16–17 cm at species level; wingspan is often given around 38–48 cm depending on source; mass is often about 35–50 g. A separate measured series from Georgia is not given on this page. The body is cigar-shaped; the wings are long, narrow, and crescent-shaped; the tail is short and forked. Plumage is sooty brown to blackish; a small pale throat patch is present but often hard to see against the sky. Sexes look alike in the field. Juveniles are similar, sometimes with slightly paler scaling.
- 02
Swallows and martins (Hirundinidae) also catch insects in the air but have different silhouettes: usually pale underparts, shorter broader wings relative to body, and often a more fluttering flight. Barn swallow has a long deeply forked tail with streamers; house martin has a white rump. Swifts have uniformly dark underparts apart from the small throat patch, stiffer wingbeats, and an anchor-like outline. The screaming call is unlike swallow twittering.
- 03
Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba), Georgian მეკირია / თეთრმუცელა ნამგალა, is also a breeding migrant on the 2024 checklist (BB; M). It is clearly larger, with a white belly and throat contrasting with a dark breast band. Pallid swift (Apus pallidus) is listed as casual (Cas) with photographs; it is paler sandy-brown with a larger white throat and is hard to separate without good light — treat as rare in Georgia. Little swift (Apus affinis) is listed with undetermined status (ND) on that checklist. This atlas does not yet have separate pages for those species.
- 04
It is not a threat to people. A dark crescent-winged bird screaming over Georgian towns in summer is this species far more often than pallid swift. Leave nests and fledglings alone unless a bird is grounded and needs help to launch.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look for it in the breeding season and on passage, not in winter on the 2024 checklist. This page does not colour a municipality-by-municipality map. The checklist confirms country-level breeding-migrant status but does not publish a regional gazetteer. Do not assume it occurs evenly across Georgia, including treeless high plateaus far from nest sites. NPLG states that it breeds throughout Georgia; that is a general secondary claim, not a municipality table, and is not used here to colour regions. Species-level habitat is open air over towns, villages, cliffs, and open country where flying insects are available. Nesting is typically in cavities: under roof tiles, in wall cracks, on buildings, and in rock crevices; natural tree holes are used less often today. Foraging may be far from the nest when weather or insect density requires it. A separate national elevation band for Georgia is not published here. The atlas map is empty until named Georgian localities are compiled from sources that actually list them.
Diet
There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page. Across the range it feeds almost exclusively on flying insects and other aerial arthropods caught in flight — often called “aerial plankton”. Prey groups in species-level literature commonly include flies, beetles, bugs, and flying ants. It drinks and gathers nest material on the wing. That is the general trophic niche, not a measured Georgian menu.
Behavior
It is active by day and spends almost its entire life in the air outside the nest. Flight is fast and stiff-winged, with deep beats and long glides; the silhouette looks like an anchor or crescent. The usual call is a loud, shrill scream, often from screaming parties circling near nesting buildings in summer evenings. No Georgian recording is on this page. Nesting is colonial when sites allow. Species-level clutches are often two or three white eggs; incubation and nestling periods are commonly given around two and a half to about six weeks depending on weather and food; chicks can slow growth when insects are scarce. Those figures are from the wider range, not a Georgian nest sample on this page. Adults usually leave breeding areas earlier than the young. The 2024 checklist treats the species as a breeder and migrant in Georgia, not as a winter visitor. At species level, western Palearctic birds winter mainly in Africa south of the Sahara; that is not a satellite-tracked Georgian route on this page. Exact arrival and departure dates for Georgia are not tabulated here. Grounded birds struggle to take off from flat ground because the legs are very short; do not leave a grounded swift on open pavement if it appears uninjured — contact a wildlife rehabilitator or lift it carefully onto a high open perch so it can launch, without forcing handling.
Conservation
BirdLife International assesses Apus apus as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The global population is large. The 2024 Georgian bird checklist assigns global and national Red List category LC. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Government Resolution No. 190). Independently, the 2021 European Red List of Birds assesses the species as Near Threatened in Europe (criteria A2bc+3bc+4bc), with a decreasing European trend; that regional assessment is not the same as Georgia’s national LC code. A Georgia-specific population trend is not quantified on this page. Documented pressures at species level include loss of nest cavities during building renovation, fewer flying insects, and collision or trapping at nest sites; that is not a ranked national threat list for Georgia. The EU Birds Directive does not apply in Georgia. Do not block nest holes in the breeding season without providing alternatives. Do not catch wild birds.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Common swift.
Yes. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia lists it as a confirmed breeding bird and migrant (BB; M). It is absent in the non-breeding season.
In the warmer months, often over towns and villages with cavity nest sites, and in open air where insects are flying. This page has no named municipality list and does not colour the regional map. Presence is confirmed at country level, not mapped region by region here.
Long scythe-shaped wings, short forked tail, sooty dark plumage, almost always in flight. Look for the scream near nesting buildings. Swallows usually show pale underparts; alpine swift is larger with a white belly.
About 16–17 cm long at species level, with a wingspan often given around 38–48 cm. A separate measured series from Georgia is not given on this page.
Flying insects and other aerial arthropods caught in flight. Diet has not been studied separately in Georgia on this page.
As a breeding migrant: present in the breeding season and on passage, absent in winter, according to the 2024 checklist. Exact arrival and departure dates for Georgia are not tabulated on this page.
Yes. BB on the 2024 checklist means it is a confirmed breeder. Nests are usually in building cavities or rock crevices. A settlement-by-settlement nest census is not published on this page.
It is harmless. It is globally Least Concern and coded LC nationally on the 2024 checklist. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. Europe-wide it is Near Threatened on the 2021 European Red List of Birds. Do not catch wild birds or seal nest holes in the breeding season without alternatives.
- Budagashvili & Javakhishvili 2024 — The birds of Georgia (Sandgrouse 46)
- SABUKO — Bird checklist
- BirdLife DataZone — Common Swift
- IUCN Red List — Apus apus
- BirdLife International — European Red List of Birds 2021
- IOC World Bird List
- Avibase — Georgia bird checklist
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- NPLG Wiki Dictionaries — ნამგალა
- BTO BirdFacts — Swift
- RSPB — Swift
- Chantler & Boesman — Birds of the World (Apus apus)
- iNaturalist — Common Swift, Dubrovnik (Janne Teivonen, CC BY)
- iNaturalist — Common Swift, Paço de Arcos (Luis Ferreira, CC0)
- iNaturalist — Common Swift, Chipiona (Christoph Moning, CC BY)
- iNaturalist — Common Swift, Chipiona (Christoph Moning, CC BY)
- iNaturalist — Common Swift, Ponte de Lima (euqirneto, CC BY)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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