About Apus barbatus (P.L.Sclater, 1866)
The African black swift (scientific name Apus barbatus), also called the African swift or black swift, is a medium-sized bird that belongs to the swift family. It breeds across Africa in a discontinuous range that extends south from Liberia, Cameroon, Zaire, Uganda and Kenya to South Africa. Populations of "black swifts" found in Madagascar and the Comoros are classified either as two subspecies of the African black swift, or as a separate full species called the Malagasy black swift.
This species' breeding habitat is damp mountain areas, most commonly between 1,600 and 2,400 m (5,200 and 7,900 ft) elevation, and it occurs less often at lower altitudes. African black swifts feed readily over lowland terrain, can gather in very large flocks, and often associate with other social swift species.
