Overview
The pallid swift (Apus pallidus) is a swift (order Apodiformes). Swifts have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. The genus name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet (from Ancient Greek α, a, "without", and πούς, pous, "foot"), and pallidus is Latin for "pale". Like other swifts they never settle voluntarily on the ground, but spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Countries
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Chad
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gambia
- Germany
- Greece
- Guinea-Bissau
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jordan
- Kosovo
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritania
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Poland
- San Marino
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- Spain
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- Vatican City
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Pallid swift
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.

