A summer visitor to the UK, the Common Swift spends almost all its life on the wing, catching small insects and spiders in the air.
Its sooty-brown body can look black against the sky. A pale throat patch, long narrow wings, and a forked tail help identify it.
It catches small insects and spiders in flight. In the UK it nests in gaps in house and church roofs, then returns to Africa after its summer breeding season.
In Britain, the usual clutch is two or three eggs and incubation lasts 18–24 days.
Chicks hatch naked and helpless; in Britain they typically fledge after 37–56 days.
It gives a sharp, high-pitched scream in flight.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.