Movements throughout the full annual cycle of three migratory swift species breeding in the Levant

Movements throughout the annual cycle evolved as an adaptation to seasonality across different bird species with a continuum of migration strategies and behaviours at the non-breeding range. Swifts are particularly mobile, aerial insectivores with a distinctive lifestyle. However, the spatiotemporal properties of swift migration, including timing, routes, and non-breeding movements, remain poorly understood in populations from the Levant. To address these knowledge gaps, we tracked Common Swift (Apus apus), Pallid Swift (A. pallidus), and Alpine Swift (Tachymarptis melba) from breeding colonies in Israel, using light-level geolocation. The three swift species differ significantly in their timing and movement patterns, especially in their non-breeding range. The Common Swift had the shortest breeding period, though it was longer than northern populations, and they exhibited distinct between-individual variation in itinerancy, with some individuals performing long-distance movements over 10,000 km. The Pallid Swift showed a hitherto undescribed longitudinal itinerancy pattern, moving from the Central Sahel to the east, as well as a prolonged stopover at the eastern coast of the Red Sea during spring migration. The Alpine Swift spent a substantially longer period at the breeding range; both compared to the other two swift species studied and to other Alpine Swift populations. At their confined non-breeding range, Alpine Swift remained stationary, though for only a relatively short period, in contrast to the other two species. These new insights regarding the timing and movement patterns of Levant swift populations, emphasises the need for further comprehensive and spatially expanded studies on swifts’ movement ecology.