Common Swift
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Apus apus
Locally common Summer migrants most from April-September with 80,000 breeding pairs in the UK & declining.
Also breed in towns and cities across mainland Europe & North West Africa from May-July.
Winters in tropical & South Africa.
Adults are entirely blackish-brown except for a small white or pale grey patch on their chins which is not visible from a distance.
They have a short forked tail and very long swept-back wings that resemble a crescent or a boomerang.
Their call is a loud scream in two different tone pitches, the higher of which issues from the Female.