About a week or so ago I once again heard the familiar screeching calls high up in the blue skies here in Odessa, Ukraine. The return of the swifts is another welcome sign of Spring. The swifts here are the Common (or Eurasian) Swifts, Apus apus. If you listen carefully you would hear two levels of screeching, the female has a higher pitch.
The latin name “apus” means “no feet”, which is not strictly true, though there are feet are small and nearly useless. If one lands or falls to the ground they have a hard time of it.
Swifts all over the world are really fascinating. The picture here is of the White-collared Swift, Streptoprocne zonaris. I took the picture in rural Peru. I chose it for this post because it is the sharpest photo I have of these birds. Being, well, swift they are pretty hard to capture!
Here are some pretty cool facts about swifts in general.
Many species spend as much as eight months in the air – never touching the ground. They eat, sleep, and even mate in the air. They only come to the ground when they are ready to nest. Even the nesting material they gather from airborne items!
What incredible creatures God has made!
From NOwhere 2 nowHERE 