This small swift has a very short tail and flies fast above African savannas and open woodland.
It is a small swift with a notably short tail.
It flies quickly and erratically over savanna and woodland, often near baobabs.
In southern Africa both sexes build a twig structure with a central cup lined with feathers or wood chips, using baobab cavities or vertical walls of deep pits, wells or mine shafts.
In southern Africa it lays two to three eggs, incubated by both sexes for about 17–20 days.
Before leaving the nesting cavity, chicks move out of the nest cup and cling to its inner wall.
It catches insects such as beetles and winged ants, often feeding in mixed-species flocks low over the tree canopy.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.