Talk:Swift (bird)

Untitled
''These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead on vertical surfaces. This tradition continued into the middle ages, as see in the heraldic martlet.'' What is this supposed to mean? Is perching vertically a "tradition" or that perching vertically continued into the middle ages but since that time swifts changed over to perching in some other fashtion? Is something missing or was removed in the midst of the paragraph that would lend some sense to it?


 * should make more sense now. jimfbleak 05:52, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

Photo
It would be good to have a photograph of a swift. Snowman 09:39, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
 * We have a family of them on our front porch. I managed a photograph of the nest and babies, but the parents left in a huff! I'll keep trying! Sarum blue 01:34, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
 * OK, I made two photos. Don't know where to put them within this nice scientific article, but look for CommonSwift.jpg and ApusApus.jpg. I uploaded them into Wikipedia. I hesitate to put them in the article unless somebody else agrees the quality is good enough.

Sarum blue 01:46, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

The second photo (with the nest) looks like a swallow to me, not a swift (maybe a barn swallow, Hirundo rustica). Tjunier (talk) 10:06, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

I agree very much with [User:Tjunier|Tjunier] The neck of the bird is too long for a swift and the general shape of the wings seem too short. The two extended outer retrices are definitely not characteristic of a common swift, which have less extreme forking of the tail. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ameruu (talk • contribs) 21:30, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Distribution
article does not tell distribution of swifts except for mentioning that they winter in the tropics. where do they spend the summer? do they spend most of their time over water or over land? Richard Dawkins writes in Climbing Mt. Improbable that swifts *sleep* while in flight.
 * I think you are referring to the Common Swift jimfbleak 05:11, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

Agree with the above point: opening paragraph should mention distribution of swifts, but currently no mention at all.


 * distribution added in text Jimfbleak (talk) 05:17, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

As of 31st October 2016, it says in the article, "Swifts occur on all the continents, though not in the far north or large deserts, and on many oceanic islands." I can't imagine swifts wintering in Antarctica or even travelling all the way there to raise chicks because their spit would freeze for a start, unless it is special formula spit with antifreeze, lol. All continents, but the continent of Antarctica, surely not? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.155.3.222 (talk) 03:01, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
 * I concur it seems unlikely. Sabine's Sunbird  talk  04:57, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

Martlet
If martlet was derived from a swift, only the Common Swift is a plausible candidate in Europe. However, marlet is often believed to refer to the House Martin, or possibly a swallow. The short tufts of feathers in the place of legs fits the Common House Martin better than the swifts, since it has feathered legs and feet. It was the cadency mark of the fourth son of a noble family, and features in many coats of arms, including the Plantagenets. The lack of feet signified its inability to land, which explained its link to a younger son, also landless. It also represented swiftness.

 Jimfbleak -  talk to me?  14:11, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

112 km/h and 169 km/h
These figures are pure trash, since they are well above the real maximal values for speeds of these birds, unless they were measure after a stoop. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.132.0.2 (talk) 22:20, 14 July 2019 (UTC)

Life on the wing
Some mention must be made that they spend all their time in the air, without touching the ground - even mating on the wing ? Wizzy&hellip; &#9742; 09:38, 4 August 2020 (UTC)


 * , that's not necessarily the case for all swifts. Although common swift sleeps and mates on the wing, the majority of species roost at night Jimfbleak - talk to me?  10:04, 4 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I came here after a NYTimes article and was hoping to find more, which you have provided, thank you. Wizzy&hellip; &#9742;

Naming Convention
I'm a bit unfamiliar with the naming conventions so I could be wrong on this, but it seems weird that the page "Swift" would refer to a bird, since the main use of the word "swift" is just a word that means "fast". Wouldn't it make more sense if this page was changed to "Swift (bird)" (or something like that) and the disambiguation page was just called "Swift"? Similar to the pages Bug or Place. Finnigami (talk) 01:24, 18 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Finnigami, as with many dictionary definitions, I don't think that we have an article for the word in the sense that you mean, so it would be odd to have a red link as the main use. I think of the meaning that do have an article, this is the major use. Apologies if I've missed something or misunderstood what you are suggesting Jimfbleak - talk to me?  11:48, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Swift (disambiguation) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 08:47, 21 March 2021 (UTC)