Description:

Small swift with relatively chunky body, blunt wing-tips and square tail. Black above, with slightly paler forehead and uppertail-coverts, and very distinct broad white rump-patch, which extends onto lower part of flanks; underparts blackish apart from inner wing and rounded white throat-patch.

Distribution:

Possible summer visitor to the western parts of Diamer district, neighboring Malakhand. Occurs over a wide range of habitats, though less frequently in truly arid regions, and usually close to human habitation. From lowlands to 1800m.

Behavior:

Rarely feeds very low but often forages at great height. Highly gregarious, often with other Apodidae. Forages as far as 15-20 km from nest-site on occasions. Feeds mostly on flies, termites, ants, beetles, grasshoppers and airborne spiders. Noted feeding in flocks of up to 50 on huge columns of white aphis.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Little Swift in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Little Swift

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.