The name of this order of birds means literally "the ones without feet". Birds of this order have very small, weak feet and legs. Their wings are long, and slender and appear stiff because the first joint (comparable to our wrist) is very close to their body. There are two families in this order: Swifts and Hummingbirds. They share the habit of spending most of their waking hours flying. Unless it's raining very hard, they are likely to be in the air.

Swifts don't beat both wings together. Instead they alternate rapidly from left to right as they dodge and weave catching insects. Like other birds that catch insects in the air, Swifts have short beaks and very large mouths. Males and females look the same. They lay their pure white eggs on cliffs, in chimneys, or in hollow trees.