• Swifts have such short legs that they cannot land on the ground – the Latin name of the Swift family of birds (Apodidae) means, literally ‘Without Feet’!
• They do, in fact, have feet with extremely strong claws so that they can cling on when landing at nest sites – it’s just that, other than when they land, they are hidden in their feathers
• Their short legs means they spend their ENTIRE LIVES airborne apart from when they nest:
  • They eat on the wing
  • Drink on the wing by skimming along open water with open mouths

• Sleep on the wing by climbing to the upper atmosphere and then gliding earthwards whilst resting one side of the brain at a time
• They even mate on the wing!

• Swifts are only in the U.K for around three months of the year (early May to late July) and spend the rest of their time in sub-Saharan Africa following weather systems in search of the flying insects they feed on.
• They are relatively long lived birds for their size. Birds like Blue Tits and Robins, on average, only live for 2 to 3 year. Swifts live for an average of around 9 years – the UK longevity record is nearly 18 years!
• So, it is estimated the average Swift will fly several million miles in its life
• This also means that, whereas most small birds produce many young (Blue Tits typically 8-12 chicks per year), Swifts rarely produce more than two.
• Because they are on the wing permanently from the moment they fledge, Swift chicks spent much longer in the nest than most small birds (6-8 weeks) and weigh around 20% more than their parents when they fledge to give them time to learn how to catch food before they starve!
• Swifts don’t breed until they are at least 3 years old which means that the young birds are in the air continuously from fledging to looking for a nest site 3 years later.