Skip to content
Bioestrecho
Menu

Your portal

My list
Sign in

Species › Birds

Alpine Swift

Apus melba

Order
Apodiformes
Family
Apodidae
Presence in the Strait
Seasonal
Abundance
rare
Protection in Spain
Special protection (List)
In Spanish
Vencejo real

51% of its open observations in the area are from September.

Photograph: Paul F Donald, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length
20–22 cm
Wingspan
54–60 cm
Weight
100 g
0204060LENGTH20–22 cmWINGSPAN54–60 cmcentimetres

Presence in the Strait

Rare summer visitor, localized at the rocky cliffs of Gibraltar (<30 pairs in 1977). They apparently prefer limestone cliffs.

Identification

The largest of the European Swifts. Brown like a Pallid Swift but easy to identify as it is the only one that has a white belly.

Movements

Peaks in 2nd hf. March and 2nd hf. September.

Ring recoveries

Switzerland (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Gallery

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.