Come along to a talk about Swifts by Catharine Gale a trustee of Hampshire Swifts, a charity set up in 2016 to address the decline in Common Swifts in the county. In the first part of her talk she will tell us all about this iconic bird species covering its identification, how it differs from Swallows and Martins, feeding habits, migration, breeding behaviour, trends in population status in the UK, and potential reasons for its dramatic decline. In the rest of her talk she will describe what Hampshire Swifts has been doing to try to reverse Swifts’ decline, including some illustrations of the positive effect of providing swift nest boxes, and finishing with some recommendations for how we can all help Swifts.
All welcome, Froyle Wildlife members free, non-members £3, teas and coffees, doors open 7pm for talk to start 7.30pm, Friday 20th March at Froyle Village Hall.

Hampshire Swifts website says: These beautiful and charismatic birds have declined across Hampshire and the UK by approximately 65% over the past 25 years. They continue to decline at approximately 5% per annum. Hampshire Swifts was formed in 2016 in response to the on-going decline of this iconic bird across Hampshire. Our objective is to reverse the decline of Swifts in our county. This is best done by ensuring we provide an ever-increasing supply of suitable nest sites for our Swifts. We can achieve this by conserving existing nest sites and by providing nest sites on existing and new buildings.

 

Summary after the talk: One of the yearly highlights for nature lovers in Froyle is the return of a favourite bird migrant, the Common Swift.  They return from their wintering grounds in Africa to breed here in the UK.  Catharine Gale gave us a fascinating talk in the village hall, reminding us how fortunate we are to be visited by this iconic bird. There are 92 swift species worldwide.  Despite the Common Swift’s association and similarities with our other summer visitors, the Swallow and House Martin, their closest bird relatives are in fact Hummingbirds!

The Common Swift is blackish-brown with a small grey patch on the chin, with a short forked tail and long swept-back wings.  They are most prominent when they form “screaming parties” that fly at high speed between buildings near their nesting area. Swifts spend almost all their lives in the air, only landing to nest.  They sleep, mate and feed on the wing.  They are the fastest bird in level flight, clocking up to 69 mph.  They feed on aerial plankton, insect and spider species found up to an altitude of several hundred metres.

Swifts migrate to our temperate region which provides a seasonal abundance of aerial insects and longer daylight hours enabling them to forage and feed their chicks.  They arrive typically in May and return to Africa in late July/August after the peak abundance of aerial food passes.  Swifts are tracked using micro data loggers which have demonstrated that their Spring migration route to the UK is very fast – one swift took 5 days to travel 5,000km from West Africa.

Swifts breed from 4 years old and they live on average between 6 and 10 years.  The oldest known swift was 21 years.  They pair for life, meeting up in spring after a winter in Africa to hopefully produce a single brood of chicks.  They make nests out of material they can catch in the air such as feathers and bits of grass.  Swifts store caught insects for their chicks as a bolus (a round mass bound together with saliva) in a pouch in their throat.  Each bolus contains up to 1,000 insects comprising up to 35 insect families. Rearing chicks takes 9 weeks and as the chicks get near fledging, they spend time looking out of the nest and exercising and strengthening their wings by doing press-ups in the nest (video shown!).  After fledging, it is usually 3 years before they land again to start nesting themselves.

Swifts use the same nest site every year, which is one reason why swift numbers are declining (between 2018 and 2024 swifts declined by 30% in the UK).  As they nest primarily on buildings, swift nests are lost each year due to building demolition and roof repairs/renovations, including the installation of UPVC soffits/facias. Returning in Spring to find their nest is no longer available may mean a pair of swifts are unable to reproduce that year.  So, to help conserve this species we must try to preserve their existing nest sites while creating new ones by installing swift nest boxes and encouraging builders to make provision for swift nests in new builds or extensions.

‘Hampshire Swifts’ (www.hampshireswifts.co.uk) can help supply and install nest boxes, comment on planning applications to increase provision of swift bricks and provide advice on all things associated with swifts.

Alan Dyos