Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 116, August 2014, pp. 1-23. | Page 2

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‫وما مِن دَآبة فًِ اْلَرْ ض وَّلَ طائِر ٌَطِ ٌر بج َناح ٌْه إَِّلَّ أُمم أَم َثالُكم مَّا فرَّ ط َنا فًِ الك َتاب مِن‬
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ُ‫شًْ ء ث‬
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. 88 ‫َ ٍ م إِلَى ربِّهم ٌُحْ شرُون . سورة اْلنعام ، اآلٌة‬
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A little Swift (Apus affinis) flying near its nest at Bab King Abdul Aziz, the
Sacred Mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Haram), Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia. Photo by: Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf-von Jaffa.
02.01.2014. http://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/11931352283/
ً‫طٌر السمامة الصغٌرة (طٌر اْلبابٌل) ٌطٌر بالقرب من عشه فً سقف باب الملك عبدالعزٌز ف‬
.01.210.22 . ‫الحرم المكً الشرٌف . تصوٌر المإلف‬
The Little Swift (Apus affinis J.E. Gray, 1830) has very short legs which
they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces. The scientific name comes from the
Greek απους, apous, meaning "without feet". They never settle voluntarily on the
ground. Little Swifts breed around habitation and cliffs from southern Spain,
Africa northeastwards through southern Pakistan and India and Sri Lanka.
Unlike the more northerly Common Swift, many birds are resident, but some
populations are migratory, and winter further south than their breeding areas.
They wander widely on migration, and are seen as rare vagrants in much of
Europe and Asia. Little Swifts spend most of their lives in the air, living on the
insects they catch in their beaks. They drink on the wing, but roost on vertical
cliffs or walls. They are notoriously slow risers in the mornings (Wikipedia).
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 116 – August 2014