Swift
(Apus apus)
Swifts are a focus species for the Urban habitat area at Waterbeach.
Listen to a swift call
Discover: Swift
The only time these birds land is for nesting, swifts spend most of their lives in the air, sleeping, feeding and mating in the sky.
Swifts can tell the difference between hoverflies and stinging insects like bees and wasps, allowing them to take advantage of non-stinging insects with warning colours.
Can you spot: Look out for these boomerang-shaped birds swooping over rooftops in social groups between April and August.
Did you know: When feeding, swifts can hoard up to 1000 insects in saliva at the back of their throats, they save these insect ‘bolus’ until they can regurgitate it to feed their young.
Want to find out more about the Swift?
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