Swifts and Spinetails
Order: Apodiformes. Family: Apodidae
Swifts and Spinetails are small aerial birds, spending the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings that resemble a crescent or a boomerang. There are 98 species worldwide, 13 in Southern Africa.
Swifts
- Scarce Swift Schoutedenapus myoptilus
- African Palm-Swift Cypsiurus parvus
- Alpine Swift Tachymarptis melba
- Mottled Swift Tachymarptis aequatorialis
- Common Swift Apus apus
- Pallid Swift Apus pallidus
- African Black Swift Apus barbatus
- Bradfield's Swift Apus bradfieldi
- Little Swift Apus affinis
- Horus Swift Apus horus
- White-rumped Swift Apus caffer
Spinetails
- Mottled Spinetail Telacanthura ussheri
- Bat-like Spinetail Neafrapus boehmi
Read more about this topic: List Of Southern African Birds