Alpine swift
Tachymarptis melba (Linnaeus, 1758)
The alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba) is a bird in the family Apodidae, subfamily Apodinae, within the order Apodiformes. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 100.4 g and an aerial lifestyle in rocky habitats.
Quick facts about the alpine swift
Its diet category is invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 7,308,000 km².
- Weight
- 94 g – 100.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 26 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- rockysrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 20 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2 – 2.6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 24 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the alpine swift
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the alpine swift live?
Not recorded
What is the alpine swift?
The alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba) is a species of swift found in Africa, southern Europe, and Asia. They breed in mountains from southern Europe to the Himalayas. Like common swifts, they are migratory; the southern European population winters further south in southern Africa. They have very short legs which are used for clinging to vertical surfaces. Like most swifts, they never settle voluntarily on the ground, spending most of their lives in the air living on the insects they catch in their beaks.
From the Wikipedia article “Alpine swift” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alpine_swift&oldid=1369099051), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the alpine swift sound like?
Is the alpine swift endangered?
The alpine swift is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the alpine swift classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderApodiformes
- familyApodidae
- genusTachymarptis
- SpeciesTachymarptis melba (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Apus melba, Apus melba, Apus melba melba, Apus melba melba, Brachypus leucogaster, Cypselus albiventris, Cypselus alpinus, Hirundo melba
Other names and names in other languages (87)
- WitpenswindswaelAfrikaans
- سمام الألبArabic
- سمام الصرودArabic
- سمامة البيةArabic
- سمامة الصرودArabic
- Falceta de tripa blancaAragonese
- andarón montésAsturian
- Белабрухі свіргульBelarusian
- Алпийски бързолетBulgarian
- Glaouer kof gwennBreton
- BallesterCatalan
- ballester comúCatalan
- Ош мӹшкӹрӓн вӹрзиMari
- Rundonu pettibiancuCorsican
- rorýs velkýCzech
- gwennol ddu'r AlpauWelsh
- Gwennol Ddu yr AlpauWelsh
- Gwenoliaid Du yr AlpauWelsh
- AlpesejlerDanish
- AlpenseglerGerman
- ΣκεπαρνάςGreek
- ΒουνοσταχτάραGreek
- alpa apodoEsperanto
- Alpa apusoEsperanto
- Vencejo realSpanish
- Vencejo AlpinoSpanish
- suurpiiritajaEstonian
- suur-piirpääsukeEstonian
- suurpiiritaja e. suur-piirpääsukeEstonian
- Malkar-sorbeltzBasque
- بادخورک کوهیPersian
- alppikiitäjäFinnish
- Alppikiitäjä AlppitervapääskyFinnish
- AlpusveimariFaroese
- Martinet alpinFrench
- Martinet à ventre blancFrench
- Martinet royalFrench
- Gabhlán alpachIrish
- Gabhlán gaoithe alpachIrish
- Gobhlan monaidhScottish Gaelic
- Gòbhlan-monaidhScottish Gaelic
- Andoriñón realGalician
- Gollan AlpaghManx
- סיס הריםHebrew
- bijela čiopaCroatian
- havasi sarlósfecskeHungarian
- Սպիտակափոր մանգաղաթևArmenian
- AlpasvölungurIcelandic
- Rondone maggioreItalian
- シロハラアマツバメJapanese
- ХьэпцӀащхъуэныбэхуKabardian
- Ақбауыр сұрқарлығашKazakh
- ಪರ್ವತ ಬಾನಾಡಿKannada
- 흰배칼새Korean
- RundunLigurian
- baltapilvis alpinis čiurlysLithuanian
- Alpu svīreLatvian
- PoadranofotsyMalagasy
- голема пиштаркаMacedonian
- വെള്ളവയറൻ ശരപ്പക്ഷിMalayalam
- ꯑꯜꯄꯥꯢꯟ ꯁ꯭ꯋꯤꯐ꯭ꯠManipuri
- GuilroMirandese
- AlpseilerNorwegian Bokmål
- बतासी गौँथलीNepali
- AlpengierzwaluwDutch
- alpeseglarNorwegian Nynorsk
- alpeseilerNorwegian
- Al'pupiirrättäiolo
- ਪਹਾੜੀ ਅਟੇਰਨPunjabi
- jerzyk alpejskiPolish
- پہاڑی ٹٹیریWestern Panjabi
- andorinhão-realPortuguese
- Drepnea mareRomanian
- Белобрюхий стрижRussian
- ÁlpaleahttospálfuNorthern Sami
- álpacihranNorthern Sami
- dážďovník skalnýSlovak
- planinski hudournikSlovenian
- Bela čiopaSerbian
- Бела чиопаSerbian
- alpseglareSwedish
- மலை உழவாரன்Tamil
- นกแอ่นแอลไพน์Thai
- Ak Karınlı SağanTurkish
- Ak Karınlı EbabilTurkish
- серпокрилець білочеревийUkrainian
- 高山雨燕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the alpine swift
Other species in the same genus Tachymarptis.
Mottled swift
Tachymarptis aequatorialis
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the alpine swift?
The alpine swift is a bird in the family Apodidae and the order Apodiformes. It is placed in the genus Tachymarptis.
How heavy is the alpine swift?
The alpine swift has an adult body mass of 100.4 g, which places it in the small size class. The lowest value reported by sources is 94 g.
What does the alpine swift eat?
The alpine swift is an invertivore, with a carnivore trophic level. It has an aerial foraging lifestyle.
Is the alpine swift endangered?
No. The alpine swift is listed globally as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the alpine swift live?
The alpine swift has a lifespan of 26 years.
How many eggs does the alpine swift lay?
The alpine swift lays 2.6 eggs per clutch as a representative value, with one clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 20 days.
When does the alpine swift reach sexual maturity?
The alpine swift reaches sexual maturity at 2 years, with reported values from 728.5 to 730 days.
Who named the alpine swift?
The alpine swift, Tachymarptis melba, carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-swift
“Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-swift.
@misc{alpine_swift_2026,
title = {Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-swift},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}