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Swift
family of birds / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Swift (disambiguation).
The swift is a bird in the family Apodidae. It is in the order Apodiformes with treeswifts and hummingbirds. The swift is very good at flying. It spends all of its time in the air.
Quick Facts Swifts, Scientific classification ...
Swifts | |
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Common swift, Apus apus Note wing shape different from swallows | |
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Family: | Apodidae Hartert, 1897 |
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The scientific name for the swift (apus) comes from the Ancient Greek word απους, apous which means "without feet". This is because swifts have very small, weak feet. Swifts use their feet to hold on to vertical places (for example, the wall of a house, or a cliff). Swifts do not want to land on the ground. It is often thought that if they land on ground, they cannot fly up again, but that is not true. They can take off but with difficulty.