The garden early in the morning 14052022
Thinking about those swifts hawking around Speke Hall meadow in June reminded me of my first swift encounter this year, in mid-May. Staying at my childhood home in Allerton, and up early, I opened up the garden birds’ breakfast buffet bar, spurred on by the robin staring in hungrily from the fence. Glancing up, I realised that half a dozen swifts were darting around, high over the playing field behind the house. As I watched, two came together in a brief display flight, then mated in the air. It was incredible – and very lucky – to witness such a quick coupling. Inspired, I settled for a while on the garden bench, binoculars at the ready, and it wasn’t long before my first house martins of the year joined the swifts, and two sparrowhawks glided past in the distance. All this in a 30-minute period – just shows, getting up with the birds certainly has its rewards!
Some Common Swift (Apus apus) Facts
The common swift is on the red list of the Birds of Conservation Concern – which is compiled by a number of well-known UK conservation groups. Swifts are in staggering decline, like many other species, and it is sobering and shocking to think that we could lose these amazing birds from our skies.
Generally speaking, they migrate between Southern Africa and Northern Europe, which could entail a round trip of approx. 14,000 miles, and they require an abundance of aerial plankton (flying insects and airborne spiders) to both survive on their journey and to provision their young whilst at their breeding grounds. The drastic decline in this insect population is one of the factors behind the swift’s commensurate decline: not using pesticides in our gardens, and allowing the grass to grow would help support the insects and thus the swifts and other species that depend on them, but a larger, collective effort is required by councils and governments globally to halt and then reverse this ‘insect apocalypse’.
Swifts, like many other species, pair for life. The clever birds meet at the same nest site each year to renew their relationship. Historically, these nest sites were crags, cliffs and caves; then the eaves of our homes and other buildings. Modern homes don’t always allow them access, sadly, but special swift nest boxes have been designed that can be fitted to the outsides of buildings, giving the swifts another option.
When they are at the nest site, it may well be the first time they have touched down in 10 months, as they eat, drink (raindrops), mate and even sleep in the air. Although this sounds far-fetched, it has been found that they shut down one side of their brain at a time, so that they are always partly aware – similar to other animals such as dolphins. This is known as unihemispheric sleep, and is an interesting topic to delve into – e.g., this National Geographic article: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/surprising-ways-that-animals-sleep.
More swifts facts can be found on the RSPB website, https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/swift/, and the Swift Conservation one, https://www.swift-conservation.org/index.htm.
And swift sightings can be reported here: https://www.swiftmapper.org.uk/.