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Swifts

Jayne Neville and Veronica Bowers

Natural History

There are 113 species of swifts and swiftlets in the family Apodidae worldwide (Gill and Donsker
2018), with four species occurring in North America: Chimney (Chaetura pelagica), Vaux’s (Chaetura
vauxi), White-throated (Aeronautes saxatalis), and Black (Cypseloides niger) Swifts. Superficially,
these species resemble swallows, but taxonomically swifts are more closely related to hummingbirds.
Swifts are historically common and widespread, though their numbers are dropping significantly,
possibly due to a reduction in insect availability with the increased use of pesticides.
Swifts are aerial insectivores with long narrow wings, a short tail, and a wide mouth opening. In
flight, they’re described as “flying cigars,” and hold their wings stiffly, alternating between short
quick bat-like wing flaps and gliding. Swifts exclusively eat 100% flying insects on the wing, and
never eat from dishes; hence, they require hand-feeding the entire time in captivity. Historically,
swifts roosted and nested in hollow trees, caves, or shafts, but some species have adapted to use
human-built structures such as chimneys as these artificial structures offer increased roosting and
breeding sites. White-throated Swifts often nest in drain holes in bridges or other concrete struc-
tures. Vaux’s Swift occupies chimney-like structures in the west during migration. Other swift
species have been shown to touch land very rarely, remaining airborne for months at a time
(Hedenstrom et al. 2016).
In rural areas, Chimney Swifts will nest in the large stone/brick chimneys of old farmhouses. In
the city, smokestacks and chimneys in historic buildings (factories and mills) can be used. In most
cases, Chimney Swifts are not able to utilize chimneys that have clay or stainless steel liners, or
those that have been capped. However, the author has witnessed swifts nesting successfully in
some types of lined chimneys as well as chimneys that have caps that are not fully enclosed.
North American swifts spend the entire day on the wing, only coming in to roost at night. They
can fly up to 500 miles in one day searching for food and consume large numbers of small aerial
insects with their wide mouth opening that allows them to snap up a single insect, or to fly through
swarms, bill agape. They drink water by swooping low over bodies of water, scooping water into
their bill as they fly above the surface. They also bathe on the wing by skimming the surface of the
water with their breast.
Swifts are not capable of perching as passerines do; instead, they cling to vertical surfaces with
specialized toes, bracing with woodpecker-like stiffened tail feathers. Their legs are very short,
with four toes that are small but strong and give the foot a “hand” shape. The toes are anisodactyl

Hand-Rearing Birds, Second Edition. Edited by Rebecca S. Duerr and Laurie J. Gage.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.