The Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus) is a small bird, superficially similar to a Barn Swallow or House Martin. It is, however, completely unrelated to those passerine species, since the swifts are in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles.
Swifts have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. The scientific name comes from the Ancient Greek απους, apous, meaning "without feet". They never settle voluntarily on the ground. Swifts spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks. They drink on the wing.
Read more about Pallid Swift: Taxonomy, Description, Distribution and Habitat
Famous quotes containing the words pallid and/or swift:
“And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demons that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light oer him streaming throws his shadow on the
floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be liftednevermore!”
—Edgar Allan Poe (18091849)
“Whatever we have got has been by infinite labour, and search, and ranging through every corner of nature; the difference is that instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax, thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.”
—Jonathan Swift (16671745)