Alpine Swift

Tachymarptis melba

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered

KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
PhylumChordata (Chordates)
ClassAves (Birds)
OrderApodiformes (Swifts and Hummingbirds)
FamilyApodidae (Swifts)
GenusTachymarptis (Mottled and Alpine Swifts)
SpeciesTachymarptis melba (Alpine Swift)

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

at Plitvice Lakes National Park

1 Verified sightings at Plitvice Lakes National Park From 2019 to 2026

3,794 Verified sightings across all 77 parks From 2019 to 2026

🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted at dawn and dusk

About the Alpine Swift

The alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba) is a species of swift found in Africa, southern Europe, and Asia. They breed in mountains from southern Europe to the Himalayas. Like common swifts, they are migratory; the southern European population winters further south in southern Africa. They have very short legs which are used for clinging to vertical surfaces. Like most swifts, they never settle voluntarily on the ground, spending most of their lives in the air living on the insects they catch in their beaks.

The alpine swift was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the swifts in the genus Hirundo and coined the binomial name Hirundo melba. Linnaeus specified the type locality as Gibraltar. Linnaeus based his account on "The greatest martin or swift" that had been described and illustrated in 1743 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his book A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards's specimen had been shot on the rock of Gibraltar. The alpine swift is now placed together with the mottled swift in the genus Tachymarptis that was introduced in 1922 by the South African zoologist... Wikipedia →

Closest Relatives at Plitvice Lakes National Park

Apus apus

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

#	Park	Country	Daily sighting probability
1	Waterberg Plateau Park	🇳🇦 Namibia	~40%
2	Hohe Tauern National Park	🇦🇹 Austria	~20%
3	Golden Gate Highlands National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	~20%
4	Cévennes National Park	🇫🇷 France	~10%
5	Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	~10%
6	Kibale National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	~10%
7	Monfragüe National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	~10%
8	Table Mountain National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	~10%
9	Horton Plains National Park	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	~10%
10	Triglav National Park	🇸🇮 Slovenia	~10%
11	Mudumalai National Park	🇮🇳 India	~10%
12	Garden Route National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	~10%
13	Pyrénées National Park	🇫🇷 France	~10%
14	Ecrins National Park	🇫🇷 France	~10%
15	Mercantour National Park	🇫🇷 France	~10%
16	Nagarhole National Park	🇮🇳 India	~10%
17	Arusha National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	~10%
18	Vanoise National Park	🇫🇷 France	<5%
19	Semuliki National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	<5%
20	Bale Mountains National Park	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	<5%
21	Periyar National Park	🇮🇳 India	<5%
22	Picos de Europa National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	<5%
23	Royal Bardia National Park	🇳🇵 Nepal	<5%
24	Niokolo-Koba National Park	🇸🇳 Senegal	<5%
25	Tsavo West National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	<5%
26	Amboseli National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	<5%
27	South Luangwa National Park	🇿🇲 Zambia	<5%
28	Ruaha National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	<5%
29	Queen Elizabeth National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	<5%
30	Langtang National Park	🇳🇵 Nepal	<5%
31	Sierra Nevada National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	<5%
32	Kidepo Valley National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	<5%
33	Tarangire National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	<5%
34	Aberdare National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	<5%
35	Kruger National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	<5%
36	Jim Corbett National Park	🇮🇳 India	<5%
37	Tsavo East National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	<5%
38	Addo Elephant National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	<5%
39	Wilpattu National Park	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	<5%
40	Murchison Falls National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	<5%
41	Lake Mburo National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	<5%
42	Virunga National Park	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	<5%
43	Bandhavgarh National Park	🇮🇳 India	<5%
44	Ranomafana National Park	🇲🇬 Madagascar	<5%
45	Volcanoes National Park	🇷🇼 Rwanda	<5%
46	Aigüestortes National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	<5%
47	Nyungwe National Park	🇷🇼 Rwanda	<5%
48	Sinharaja Forest Reserve	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	<5%
49	Chitwan National Park	🇳🇵 Nepal	<5%
50	Samburu National Reserve	🇰🇪 Kenya	<5%
51	Namib-Naukluft National Park	🇳🇦 Namibia	<5%
52	Yala National Park	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	<5%
53	Bwindi Impenetrable National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	<5%
54	Ngorongoro Conservation Area	🇹🇿 Tanzania	<5%
55	Kanha National Park	🇮🇳 India	<5%
56	Serengeti National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	<5%
57	Keoladeo National Park	🇮🇳 India	Insufficient data
58	Meru National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	Insufficient data
59	Eravikulam National Park	🇮🇳 India	Insufficient data
60	Berenty Reserve	🇲🇬 Madagascar	Insufficient data
61	Bandipur National Park	🇮🇳 India	Insufficient data
62	Lake Manyara National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	Insufficient data
63	Pilanesberg National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
64	Minneriya National Park	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	Insufficient data
65	Plitvice Lakes National Park	🇭🇷 Croatia	Insufficient data
66	Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
67	Camargue	🇫🇷 France	Insufficient data
68	Ankarafantsika National Park	🇲🇬 Madagascar	Insufficient data
69	Hwange National Park	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	Insufficient data
70	Akagera National Park	🇷🇼 Rwanda	Insufficient data
71	Snowdonia National Park	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	Insufficient data
72	Ranthambore National Park	🇮🇳 India	Insufficient data
73	iSimangaliso Wetland Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
74	Sierra de Guadarrama National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	Insufficient data
75	Doñana National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	Insufficient data
76	Masai Mara National Reserve	🇰🇪 Kenya	Insufficient data
77	Wadden Sea National Park	🇩🇪 Germany	Insufficient data

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