Juvenile swift: Plumage grey-black, somewhat duller; feathers edged with white, particularly noticeable on axillary feathers, wing coverts and main feathers, broadest on the forehead, which thereby takes on a white appearance; throat extensively pure white; characteristic are the white "whiskers" projecting between the nostrils and upper beak.
Note:
The belly and chest of a Common Swift are always dark, whereas in Barn and House Martins they are white. The Alpine Swift also has a white belly/chest – but with a wingspan of 60 cm and a weight of 90-100 g, it cannot be confused with a swallow.
Found swifts are often mistaken for "small birds of prey" by their finders due to their distinctive brow ridge. For reference: All young noble falcons have pure white downy plumage. Young buzzards, goshawks and sparrowhawks can be easily identified by their yellow feet, among other features. In general, all birds of prey occurring in our region are significantly larger than a Common Swift.
Unmistakable are the powerful pincer feet of the Common Swift. Four hook-like toes are arranged like the fingers of a spread hand (in the "normal" bird foot, either three toes point forward and one backward, e.g., in songbirds and gallinaceous birds, or two toes point forward and two backward, e.g., in parrots and woodpeckers). Common Swifts hook themselves noticeably, often even painfully firmly with their claws, thus clearly refuting an age-old misconception: that they have "vestigial" feet!
Alpine and Pallid Swifts have exactly the same powerful pincer feet.
