Swifts
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of 33 swift specimens and their relatives and numerous eggs. These date from about 1880 to 1992.
This collection includes 19 mounted specimens, 14 skins, five nests and about 30 eggs, and represents four species. Most of the specimens in the collection are of common swifts (Apus apus) from Scotland and England, but there are also examples of the alpine swift (Apus melba), the chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) and the brown-backed needletail (Hirundapus giganteus) from Asia and the USA. The nests in the collection are all of cave swiftlets. Swiftlet nests are made from the bird’s saliva, instead of twigs, and are used for making ‘bird’s nest soup’, a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.
About swifts
Swifts, swiftlets and needletails belong to the family Apodidae, the name of which comes from the Greek meaning ‘without feet’. Swifts do have feet, but they very rarely land on the ground. They spend most of their lives flying – eating, sleeping and even mating on the wing. Swifts and swallows resemble each other because of convergent evolution, reflecting their similar methods of catching insects in flight. The common swift is a Local Biodiversity Action Plan species in Glasgow. - Broader term
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