A medium-sized swift of higher elevations in western South America, the Andean Swift was only recently split out of the genus Apus, and into the genus Aeronautes. There are currently three described subspecies of the Andean Swift. An aerial insectivore, the Andean Swift spends nearly all of its waking hours on the wing in search of food. It is more likely to be found flying over arid, montane scrubland, rather than over forested slopes. Due to its relatively inaccessible breeding locations on high, mountain cliffs, very little is known about the Andean Swift's breeding biology; details about its clutch size, breeding phenology and nest form have never been described.