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Common swift
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<p>The common swift (<i>Apus apus</i>) is a medium-sized <a href="/facts/Bird/RJF6zwLP">bird</a>, superficially similar to the <a href="/facts/Barn_swallow/55qVd38j">barn swallow</a> or <a href="/facts/Common_house_martin/QGKvEjnI">house martin</a> but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those <a href="/facts/Passerine/qby0MANo">passerine</a> species, being in the order <a href="/facts/Apodiformes/TxYQgGgc">Apodiformes</a>. The resemblances between the groups are due to <a href="/facts/Convergent_evolution/dd0L8z4R">convergent evolution</a>, reflecting similar contextual development. The swifts' nearest relatives are the New World <a href="/facts/Hummingbirds/LfcJhMzm">hummingbirds</a> and the Southeast Asian <a href="/facts/Treeswift/G47lzkaH">treeswifts</a>. </p><p>Its scientific name <i>Apus</i> is <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of <a href="/facts/Swallow/FBzpd2zJ">swallow</a> with no feet (from <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a> α, <i>a</i>, "without", and πούς, <i>pous</i>, "foot"). </p><p>Swifts have very short legs which they use primarily for clinging to vertical surfaces (hence the German name <i>Mauersegler</i>, literally meaning "wall-glider"). They never settle voluntarily on the ground where they would be vulnerable to accidents and predation, and non-breeding individuals may spend up to ten months in continuous flight. </p>