Alpine Swift Tachymarptis melba Scientific name definitions

20–22 cm; 76–120 g (nominate), 67–87 g (africanus), 95–110 g (tuneti), 128 g (maximus); wingspan 54–60 cm. Very large swift with broad wings and shallowly forked tail relatively shorter than in Apus; olive-brown upperparts lacking prominent saddle, outer wing appearing blacker; underparts with white throat and highly distinctive large oval white patch encircled by olive-brown breastband , flanks and undertail-coverts . Subspecies tuneti and marjoriae paler, with gray-brown plumage; archeri averages paler than tuneti, with shorter wings; maximus largest subspecies, with very dark, blackish plumage; africanus and nubifugus smaller than nominate, with blacker plumage, smaller throat patch and blacker shaft-streaks on white areas; willsi and bakeri both smaller, with darker plumage and broader and narrower breastbands, respectively; dorabtatai has broader breastband and shorter wings than nubifugus and is separated from bakeri by its paler plumage and broader breastband.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

The subspecies name dorabtatai is often misspelt dorobtatai. The proposed subspecies striatus (from Mt Kenya) is synonymous with africanus. Supposed presence of breeding individuals of uncertain subspecies in central Mali (Bandiagara Escarpment) has been questioned; this population is believed more likely to be referable to Mottled Swift (Tachymarptis aequatorialis) (1 Dowsett, R.J. and Dowsett-Lemaire, F. (2005). On the apparent status of Mottled Swift Apus (Tachymarptis) aequatorialis and Alpine Swift A. (T.) melba in Mali, West Africa. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 125(4): 296–298. Close ). Ten subspecies are currently recognized.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Alpine Swift is polytypic species occurring over a wide range of habitats and foraging over vast areas. Found in western Palearctic in temperate and Mediterranean zones, typically in mountains but occasionally in lowlands. In the remainder of sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, it occurs from sub-desert steppe to equatorial mountains. The species typically breeds below 1,500 m, sometimes to 2,200–2,300 m, though it may breed above 4,000 m on high mountains in Kenya and forage to 3,700 m in Himalayas. Alpine Swift has been seen entering probable nesting sites at 2,100 m on Madagascar.

Nominate subspecies, <em>tuneti</em> , nubifuga, and southern African populations of africanus are migratory at high altitude, so movements are often observed only when poor weather forces birds down. Three individuals equipped with data-loggers at a breeding colony in Switzerland spent more than 200 days in non-stop flight during their migrations and wintering period in western Africa (2 Liechti, F., W. Witvliet, R. Weber, and E. Bächler (2013). First evidence of a 200-day non-stop flight in a bird. Nature Communications 4: 2554. Close ). Palearctic breeding populations leave September to mid October, returning as early as mid February, but later further north (e.g. late March to early April to Switzerland). Main migration is through Belen Pass in southern Turkey during October–November, where it migrates in smaller flocks than Common Swift (Apus apus) and mainly in single-species groups. At the Bosphorus, the migratory picture is unclear, as the large Istanbul population embarks on early-morning feeding movements, but peak autumn passage occurs early September. In Israel, the autumn passage is from late May to mid December, peaking September–October, and the spring passage lasts mid January to mid June, peaking mid February to late March. A large migration was noted over the West Bank in mid March of 1987, when 10,000 individuals flew north in just 15 minutes just 50–100 m above ground. In Natal stage, Alpine Swift performs altitudinal migration from 1,500–2,400 m to below 900 m.

It has been recorded once along the Egyptian Nile in February, in the Arabian Gulf states on three occasions November–January; small numbers, mostly tuneti, winter in Israel, mainly in desert areas. Southern African populations are partially migratory—breeding areas occupied August–May, with migration noted May–June and August–October through Zimbabwe, March–April and August–October in Malawi, and probably April and September in Botswana. Other subspecies in Africa and India show some non-breeding dispersal, thought to be linked to monsoon. Large numbers were recorded February–April in northern Liberia of unknown migratory provenance, as Palearctic and African migrants are believed to occur in that country and breeding cannot be ruled out. Annual overshooting migrant to British Is (more than 600 records since 1958) (3 White, S. and C. Kehoe (2016). Report on scarce migrant birds in Britain in 2013. Part 1: non-passerines. British Birds 109(1):21–45. Close ) and central & northern Europe; four Caribbean records, all on Barbados, the most recent in July 2015 (4 Ławicki, Ł., and A. B. van den Berg (2015). WP reports. Dutch Birding 37(5):340–353. Close ), with a single sight record for South America, in French Guiana in June 2002 (5 Ottema, O. (2004). First sight record of Alpine Swift Tachymarptis melba for South America, in French Guiana. Cotinga. 21: 70–71. Close ).

Swiss food balls for nestlings averaged 219 prey items, ranging from 11 to 626 (mean weight 2.53 g), mainly containing Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera and spiders. Seventeen food balls comprised 308 flies, 200 beetles, 125 aphids, 94 wasps, 21 spiders, 16 cicadas (Cicadidae), 15 lacewings (Neuroptera), two ants, and two butterflies. Other Swiss prey species were wood wasps (Sirex gigas), drone honeybees (Apis mellifera), and dragonflies. In Africa, grasshoppers and winged termites are also taken. A single bug species comprised the vast majority of prey in a series of stomachs from the Democratic Republic of Congo. In South Africa, Alpine Swift is believed to be a significant predator in spring around commercial apiaries during cool, windy, overcast weather. The species usually forages higher than most other swifts (e.g. in highest feeding level, 30–40 m, at Kariba, Zimbabwe), but will feed at low levels, especially during inclement weather, and has been observed taking cicadas flushed by a human. Alpine Swiftwill feed at night both where lights attract insects and in total darkness (as recorded in Saudi Arabia).

Most common call is a loud, metallic-sounding trilling phrase lasting ca. 2–4 seconds, accelerating then decelerating, peee-ti-ti-titititititi-ti-ti-ti--ti--ti, which increases and decreases in pitch and amplitude. Also other loud calls such as kee-kee-kee-kee or peee!-hu.

The Alpine Swift breeding season is March–June, in Israel; it lays in Morocco from April–May, Samarkand from early May, central ­Europe mid-to-late May or in bad weather as late as early June, August in Zimbabwe, September–January in South Africa. Nestlings are fed in the Caucasus in early July, in the Kugitang Mts (central Asia) during mid July. A fledging was noted from a nest in Dagestan, Caucasus, in early July, and breeding behavior was noted late September and mid October in Madagascar. Alpine Swift is colonial , having frequent mixed colonies with African Swift (Apus barbatus), which may last for hundreds of years. The species is monogamous, with a bond of at least 11 years recorded. It uses ledges or holes in cliff-faces, or tall man-made structures for nest-sites, which are used in successive years by same pair. The nest is saucer-shaped, consisting of downy feathers from many ­species, and swift primaries, tightly bound with dried plant matter and saliva. It measures 125 × 130 mm, with a mean height of 39 mm on level surfaces and 49 mm on angled surfaces in Europe, typically with a central depression ­averaging 28 mm on horizontal surfaces; nest bowls on flatter surfaces are on average deeper; in Africa those attached to vertical rock-faces are externally 90 × 110 mm, with an inner bowl 100 × 110 × 20 mm, and those wedged in vertical crack 80 mm wide measured 70 mm deep, with an internal bowl 80 × 110 × 20 mm. Copulation takes place by the nest or aerially. The female typically lays three eggs (1–4); incubation lasts 17–23 days with nest duties shared by both sexes; the whole clutch hatches within 24 hours; young are fed ten times on average daily, with a nestling period of 53–66 days. In Switzerland, 94% of eggs hatch successfully and 78–98% of broods fledge; overall breeding success is 70%, with an average of 1.8–2.4 young fledged per breeding effort. The species breeds first at 2–3 years, and less ­frequently at one year.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Locally fairly common to common throughout much of range. Alpine Swift is locally abundant in some areas (e.g. Turkey, central Asian republics, parts of Africa where resident, and Indian Subcontinent), and perhaps increasing in southern Africa, where it increasingly uses buildings as nest-sites. One colony was lost in the late 1960s as a result of dam construction. On population recorded in May 2012 in westernmost China (Xinjiang), with some birds photographed clearly carrying food; the species is already known to breed in nearby Kazakhstan. The Swiss population has fluctuated, with a minimum of 1,250 pairs annually during 1970–1974 (at least 61% utilized buildings). Severe weather in 1974 caused a crash to a maximum of 320 pairs during 1975–1978, but the population subsequently increased to 1,200–1,300 pairs in 1994, and continued to increase since then likely due to purpose-build nextboxes on buildings. Similar fluctuations were reported in Bulgaria (decline of large colony from 300–500 pairs to ca. 100 pairs) and Italy (desertion of colonies due to poor spring weather). In general, the trend has been range expansion, with some regional increases, within stable European populations. Population estimates in 1997: Europe 44,614–62,482 breeding pairs, Turkey 10,000–200,000 pairs.