| Pallid swift | |
|---|---|
| |
| Flying in Greece | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Strisores |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Apodidae |
| Genus: | Apus |
| Species: | A. pallidus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Apus pallidus (Shelley, 1870)
| |
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".[2] 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.
- ^ BirdLife International (2019). "Apus pallidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22686815A155463151. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22686815A155463151.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 52, 289. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.