Swifts | Jubilee Meadow

One of the joys of summer is the sight and sound of a party of Swifts cutting through the air with their distinctive screaming calls. They mark the season and when they are suddenly gone in August it feels like summer has gone with them.

Latest news from the "Helping Our Swifts" project

Thanks to a grant from South Norfolk District Council we have been able to purchase our first batch of Swift nest boxes and thanks to Danny, we have been able to get the first six boxes installed before the Swifts arrived.

The first returning Swift was seen over the village on Saturday 4th May just as we were putting up the last nest box! We'll pause installation of more boxes now until after the breeding season is over.

We are hoping to arrange an evening Swift walk lead by a local Swift expert to see, hear and learn more about these amazing guests in the village.

Helping our Swifts

in Stoke Holy Cross

our new community project to help the Swifts that breed in our village

We are so lucky in our village to have a small colony of these birds that make their incredible journey to us from Africa every year. They spend all their lives in the air even mating on the wing and usually the only time they will touchdown is in their nest in our village.

But Swifts are in trouble. Mainly through a lack of suitable nest sites they are declining in the UK as we remove the spaces they have traditionally used under our roofs. We are joining many other communities to try and protect our Swifts by providing more potential homes for them.

Our first actions will be:

To seek funding to provide nest boxes for houses on Long Lane where we know there are Swifts

GREAT NEWS - in April thanks to a grant from South Norfolk District Council we have been able to order our first batch of Swift nest boxes and we have secured help to put them up so hopefully they will be in place before the first birds return in early May

To seek to expand the existing colony by putting Swift bricks in the new Community Hall and playing tapes to try and attract them
To raise awareness of this wonderful bird

In future we hope to take this further and provide more potential nest sites for Swifts and make our village even more of a “home for our Swifts”. We’ll use social media etc to give updates but if you want to contact us, please email us at shxmeadowmakers@yahoo.com

Leaving Space for Our Swifts

Once Swifts would have nested in caves, tree holes and cliff crevices but the UK population now depends almost entirely on our buildings for nest sites but if it wasn't for their screaming aerial displays you probably wouldn’t even know that they were there. Their nest, a shallow cup made from any materials the Swift can catch in flight, is usually built under the eaves of old buildings but we increasingly deny them the spaces that they need as we renovate our houses and new buildings do not have spaces for them.

Swifts are on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK, with numbers falling by an estimated 62% between 1995 and 2021 (source: RSPB). While climate change and declines in available insect food are factors, the lack of nest sites is seen as the main cause. Sadly, despite considerable support, a proposal to make Swift bricks part of every new property was rejected by Parliament last year but, like many communities, we can take action locally.

In Stoke Holy Cross we are fortunate to still have a small but well established breeding colony on Long Lane and our project aims to support that colony and provide new sites in the village.

If you are considering roof renovations or repairs, think about the birds that may use the space and remember that in England and Wales all wild birds, their young, nests and eggs are protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. For information on how you can help and protect Swift nest sites, visit Swift Conservation https://www.swift-conservation.org/Re-Roofing.htm

And just a few reasons why Swifts are so special

They spend their lives on the wing, feeding, sleeping and even mating in flight. It's remarkable to think that the only time they might touch ground is when they land in their nest site here in the village
Swifts usually reach breeding age at 4 years, they pair for life and return to the same nest each year
Catching their prey in the air they are dependant on the weather and the adults may have to make long flights to catch food for their young but, by going into a semi-torpor, the young can survive in the nest for up to 48 hours without a feed
Their annual migration journey is estimated to be 3,400 miles each way and given that the typical life is estimated as 9 years (source: BTO) that's a lot of Air-miles!
Once known as the "Devil's bird" for their piercing call said to be the tormented souls of the dead going to hell. It was also thought that they hibernate in mud and that they had no legs (their scientific name Apus apus translates as “without foot”)
Listen on a summer night evening as groups of Swifts with their young scythe through the air but don’t delay as they leave us all too soon. Usually arriving early in May (I saw the first ones over the village last year on the 1st May) they leave in early August and, of our migrant birds, only the Cuckoo (which leaves it's parental duties to other birds) spends a shorter time with us
Due to their aerial feeding flights, Swifts may be mistaken for the hirundines (Swallows and Martins) but they are not related and their stiff winged flight is totally different when you get your eye in. In fact the Swift's closest genetic relations are the hummingbirds
The Common Swift is the only member of the family to breed here but other members of the family can turn up as irregular overshoots notably the Alpine Swift, Pallid Swift, Little Swift and even the Pacific Swift, which breeds in Eastern Asia, can turn up.

Find out more about Swifts

There’s lots of information available on the internet. Check out some of these resources:

Action For Swifts https://actionforswifts.blogspot.com/

Norwich Swift Network https://www.facebook.com/NorwichSwift/

Swift Conservation https://www.swift-conservation.org/index.htm

RSPB https://www.rspb.org.uk/helping-nature/what-we-do/protecting-species-and-habitats/swift-conservation-take-part-in-swift-mapper

To see where Swifts have been nesting have a look at Swift Mapper https://www.swiftmapper.org.uk/

Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s event programme has two free events led by Caroline Spinks, an inspiring local Swift enthusiast. The first is a Zoom presentation on Weds 15th May from 1800-1900. For details and booking go to https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on/all-events/2024-05-15-wilder-communities-making-ro

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