The Cape Verde swift or Alexander's swift (''Apus alexandri'') is a small

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

of the

swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

family found only in the Cape Verde Islands. It has been recorded from all the islands except Santa Luzia although it probably breeds only on

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, Fogo,

Brava Brava or La Brava may refer to: Geography *Brava, Cape Verde, a volcanic island *Brava, Costa Rica, an island of Costa Rica (Isla Brava) *Costa Brava, a coastal area Mediterranean of northeast Spain * Barawa, a town in Somalia commonly known as ' ...

, Santo Antão and São Nicolau. It is generally common with a stable population and is not considered to be

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

. The name Alexander's swift commemorates Boyd Alexander, an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

ornithologist who led two expeditions to the islands in 1897.

Description

It is 13 cm long with a wingspan of 34 to 35 cm. The plumage is dark grey-brown with a large pale throat-patch. Compared to other swifts recorded from the islands it is smaller with shorter wings and a shallower fork to the tail. Its flight action is weaker and more fluttering. It has a high-pitched, screaming call with a buzzing quality.

Ecology

The Cape Verde swift feeds on insects which it catches while flying. It can be seen flying over all habitats and hunts in flight for

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s, foraging in flocks over gullies and along cliffs and shorelines. The

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

is built in a crevice in a cliff, in a cave or in the roof of a building. It is saucer-shaped and made of grass and feathers. The eggs are white and a

clutch size __NOTOC__ A clutch of egg (biology), eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest. In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for exam ...

of two has been reported. The bird is thought to be resident rather than migratory.

Status

The Cape Verde swift has a restricted range but is a common bird on the archipelago, with large numbers on Fogo and Brava. There is no evidence that its numbers are declining and no specific threats have been recognised, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

*Clarke, Tony; Orgill, Chris & Dudley, Tony (2006) ''Field Guide to the Birds of the Atlantic Islands'', Christopher Helm, London *Snow, D. W. & Perrins, C. M. (1998) ''Birds of the Western Palearctic: Concise Edition, Vol. 1'', Oxford University Press.

External links

Mike Danzenbaker's Cape Verde Swift (''Apus alexandri'') Photo Page
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1029778 Apus (genus) Endemic birds of Cape Verde Birds described in 1901