NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Pallid Swift
Apus pallidus (Shelley, 1870)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The pallid swift (Apus pallidus) is a swift (order Apodiformes). Swifts have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. The genus name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet (from Ancient Greek α, a, "without", and πούς, pous, "foot"), and pallidus is Latin for "pale". Like other swifts they never settle voluntarily on the ground, but spend most of their lives in the air, living on the insects they catch in their beaks. They drink on the wing.
Wikipedia contributors, Pallid swift; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:55:10.006358+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Apus pallidus (Shelley, 1870)
- Name authority
- (Shelley, 1870)
- Common name
- Pallid Swift
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Apodidae
- Genus
- Apus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderApodiformes
- familyApodidae
- subfamilyApodinae
- genusApus Scopoli, 1777
- speciesApus pallidus (Shelley, 1870)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Apus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Plain SwiftApus unicolor (Jardine, 1830) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malagasy Black SwiftApus balstoni (Bartlett, 1880) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Salim Ali's SwiftApus salimalii Lack, 1958 | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fernando Po SwiftApus sladeniae (Ogilvie-Grant, 1904) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little SwiftApus affinis (J. E. Gray, 1830) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African Black SwiftApus barbatus (P. L. Sclater, 1866) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Forbes-Watson's SwiftApus berliozi Ripley, 1966 | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bradfield's SwiftApus bradfieldi (Roberts, 1926) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bates's SwiftApus batesi (Sharpe, 1904) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Nyanza SwiftApus niansae (Reichenow, 1887) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fork-tailed SwiftApus pacificus (Latham, 1801) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| House SwiftApus nipalensis (Hodgson, 1837) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Cypselus pallidus Shelley, 1870 Shelley, 1870 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China)
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=555008 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:67QDC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.