---
title: "Andorinhão-preto"
description: "Apus apus — Aves. The common swift (Apus apus) is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/common-swift
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Andorinhão-preto

> Apus apus — Aves. The common swift (Apus apus) is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes.

- Scientific name: *Apus apus*
- Category: `birds` (Aves)
- Habitats: `urban` (Cidades e jardins)
- iNaturalist observations: 38290
- Wikidata: [Q25377](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25377)
- iNaturalist taxon: [6638](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/6638)

## Names

- en: Common Swift
- de: Mauersegler
- es: Vencejo común
- fr: Martinet noir
- nl: Gierzwaluw
- pt: Andorinhão-preto
- pl: Jerzyk zwyczajny

## Countries with the most observations

RU (8266), ES (2520), GB (2455), IT (2198), DE (2178), FR (2125), UA (860), CH (831), PL (682), PT (577), FI (481), BE (473)

## Summary

The common swift (Apus apus) is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent evolution, reflecting similar contextual development. The swifts' nearest relatives are the New World hummingbirds and the Southeast Asian treeswifts.
Its scientific name Apus is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet (from Ancient Greek α, a, "without", and πούς, pous, "foot").
Swifts have very short legs…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_swift

## Photo

![Andorinhão-preto](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/common-swift/medium.jpg)

Photo: Luis Ferreira · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/216170697

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/common-swift?lang=pt` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).