What’s The Difference Between A Swallow And A Swift?
For the past two summers, we’ve been lucky enough to have swallows nest in our outbuilding and thus observe these fascinating birds almost at arm’s length.Like many other beginner birdwatchers though, for years I struggled to confidently pick a swallow from a swift.And when my children started to ask whether ‘those birds’ were swallows or swifts, I knew it was time to do my research! So what is the difference between a swallow and a swift?
Although swallows and swifts are superficially alike in appearance, they are in fact unrelated and there are several key differences...
Swallows are smallish birds with dark, blue backs, pale under-parts and beautiful red throats.They have very defined, long forked tails, some up to 8cm in length.Swifts however tend to be dark all over (though some breeds do show off pale markings), have ‘scythe-like’, longer wings than swallows (so they often appear bigger), display a ‘moon-crescent’ shape in flight and have shorter, more square-like forked tails.
You will often see swallows perching on telephone wires but you will very rarely – if ever - see swifts doing the same (their shorter legs and feet are better suited to clinging to rough surfaces).Indeed, swifts love to be air bourne and capture all their food in flight; some are even known to sleep and mate on the wing! And it is a truly wondrous sight when groups of playful swifts soar over rooftops and chimneys chasing one another in the early evening.
Our nesting swallows – like most others I believe – built cup-shaped nests from mud, straw and twigs in the shade of our outbuilding’s roof timbers.
Well, I hope the above will now help you to accurately identify swallows and swifts.And I certainly hope these incredible birds return to my home again next year.
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The author originally published this article here: http://stable.quazen.com/reference/whats-the-difference-between-a-swallow-and-a-swift/
Sources: RSPB, Wildwatch.com, Suite 101