NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Little Swift
Apus affinis (J. E. Gray, 1830)
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 little swift (Apus affinis) is a small species of swift found in Africa and southwestern Asia, and are vagrants and local breeders in southern Europe. They are found both in urban areas and at rocky cliffs where they build nests in a way typical of all members of the order Apodiformes. The genus name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow without feet (from Ancient Greek α, a, "without", and πούς, pous, "foot"). The Latin specific affinis means similar to or related to, but in this case the species that the little swift supposedly resembles is not clear from the description. A population formerly considered to be an eastern subspecies of little swift is now separated as a distinct species, the house swift (Apus nipalensis).
Wikipedia contributors, Little swift; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:54:54.111938+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Apus affinis (J. E. Gray, 1830)
- Name authority
- (J. E. Gray, 1830)
- Common name
- Little 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 affinis (J. E. Gray, 1830)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pallid SwiftApus pallidus (Shelley, 1870) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| 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 |
| 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 affinis J. E. Gray, 1830 J. E. Gray, 1830 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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=555014 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:FZD6. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.