Alpine Swift

The alpine swift is a large swift, 20 to 22cm long with a wingspan of 54 to 60cm, with broad wings and a shallowly forked tail. It is superficially similar to a large barn swallow or house martin though unrelated, as swifts are in the order Apodiformes. It has very short legs, used only for clinging to vertical surfaces, and spends most of its life in the air feeding on insects (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in mountains from southern Europe to the Himalayas and is also found in Africa, and like the common swift it is migratory, the southern European population wintering in southern Africa. Ten subspecies are recognised. The account opened gives no breeding detail or status in Nepal, so none is stated.