Swifts are magical birds for so many reasons. Firstly, they almost never land. They eat, sleep, bathe and even mate all whilst flying. A lot of birds move through the sky but swifts live in it. Their latin name, apus apus, translates as ‘without foot’ as they only ever land when its time to nest and start a family. A young swift might fly continuously for two or even three years, without ever stopping, until they land to have chicks of their own! They travel thousands of miles each year from Africa to breed in the UK, arriving on our shores towards the end of April or early May. I love watching swifts and thinking about how just a few weeks ago, those same birds would have been soaring over the Sahara desert or racing over the Gola Rainforest.

If you are a beginner bird watcher, spotting a swift can be a little tricky as other birds that also migrate to the UK for the summer such as swallows, house martins or sand martins can look similar. So what do you need to look or listen for to identify a swift ? Firstly, the call of the swift is extremely distinctive once you get your ear in. They have a unique, high-pitched, piercing screaming call. Once you have heard the call look out for a dark, sooty brown bird with long, scythe-shaped wings. Swallows, house martins and sand martins all have white on their undersides whereas swifts will look totally black in the sky. Enjoy them while you can because come early August, they begin to leave the UK and undergo their mammoth migration back to Africa.

This week is ‘Swift Awareness Week’ a campaign organized by the Swift Local Network, a group of volunteers committed to helping these incredible birds. Unfortunately, swifts are now on the red list in the UK and their numbers have fallen by 62% between 1995 and 2021. Locally things look much worse, in Bristol we have lost 96% of our swifts! The reasons for their decline is still not totally understood but a loss of nesting sites is likely to be a main reason. Swifts nest in small gaps and holes high up in buildings which are removed as old buildings are renovated and new builds have fewer gaps meaning nesting sites for the birds are reduced. The worrying decline of insects is likely also affecting our swifts as they feed on flying insects and airborne spiders, sometimes called ‘aerial plankton’. When they have hungry chicks to feed, a swift can catch up to 100,000 insects a day!

If you want to get involved in helping swifts, you can record your sightings on the Swift Mapper app or website (especially if you know of any nesting sights) or you could install a swift nesting box to the outside of your house or office.

Try to get out and enjoy these screaming beauties for a few more weeks before they start to head south!

Record your swift sightings here!