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The common swift eats, sleeps, drinks, and mates in the air. A 2016 study tracked one group for ten months straight and logged zero landings. Its scientific name, Apus apus, means "without feet" because Aristotle watched swifts and decided they did not have any. A single swift can fly four million miles in a lifetime. The distance to the moon and back, eight times.
By Christopher KliebensteinThe common swift eats, sleeps, drinks, and mates in the air. A 2016 study tracked one group for ten months straight and logged zero landings. Its scientific name, Apus apus, means "without feet" because Aristotle watched swifts and decided they did not have any. A single swift can fly four million miles in a lifetime. The distance to the moon and back, eight times.