# Alpine swift (*Tachymarptis melba*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-swift  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 94 g – 100.4 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 26 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Main food | arthropods |
| Habitat | rocky |
| Egg incubation | 20 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 – 2.6 |
| Age at maturity | 24 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aerial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Apodiformes
- family: Apodidae
- genus: Tachymarptis
- species: *Tachymarptis melba* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Apus melba*, *Apus melba*, *Apus melba melba*, *Apus melba melba*, *Brachypus leucogaster*, *Cypselus albiventris*, *Cypselus alpinus*, *Hirundo melba*

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-swift