General
Alpine Swift: Large swift with very long wings. Black-brown upperparts, white throat and belly, black-brown breast band, short, wide beak. Short to medium tail is forked, black-brown undertail coverts. Fast, long distance flights with much soaring, powerful wing beats. Forages over a large area for beetles, and a variety of other insects found in the air. Catches insect prey with wide open mouth during fast, direct flight. May be difficult to spot when flying very high above the ground.
Range and Habitat
Alpine Swift: Summers in mountainous areas across southern Europe to the Himalayas. Winters in central and southern Africa. Found year-round in Madagascar and parts of India and Africa. A scarce annual visitor with most records from March to October. In the UK, it can occur above any type of habitat, but on its breeding grounds, prefers mountainous areas with cliffs.
Breeding and Nesting
Alpine Swift: Two to three plain, white eggs are laid in a cup-shaped nest made of moss, small sticks, feathers, and the swift's own saliva. The nest is built in a crevice on a cliff, under a bridge, on on a tall building. It is usually high above the ground. The eggs are incubated by both sexes for 18 to 28 days.
Foraging and Feeding
Alpine Swift: This large swift feeds on beetles, wasps, and other insects in the air. It catches them during fast, straight flight usually high above the ground, but also fairly close to the ground during humid weather. The Alpine Swift forages over a very large area each day.
Vocalisation
Alpine Swift: Typical call is a trilled, metallic "peeee, ti-ti-titititi-ti-ti". Also makes repeated "kee" calls.
Similar Species
Alpine Swift: Swift has brown underparts, and a longer, more deeply-forked tail. Sand Martin has a white undertail, and more white on the chin and throat.