Alpine Swift

The alpine swift is a large swift, 20–22cm long with a wingspan of 54–60cm, with long, sharp wings and a shallowly forked tail. It is olive-brown above, with blacker wing-tips, and shows a white throat and a distinctive oval white belly patch enclosed by a brown breast band, flanks and undertail. Ten subspecies are recognised, varying from pale grey-brown to almost blackish. Its very short legs are used only for clinging to vertical surfaces (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in mountains from southern Europe to the Himalayas and occurs year-round in parts of Africa, Madagascar, western peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Like other swifts it never settles on the ground by choice and spends most of its life in the air, catching insects in its bill; European birds migrate to southern Africa for the winter. SoIB 2023 lists it as resident in India with local movements, estimates a long-term decline of about 58% with a stable current trend, and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).