Swifts are arguably the fastest creatures in the world in continued level travel, at up to 70mph. Faster than a cheetah and even a peregrin in a straight line. They fly continuously, so naturally they also hold the endurance record too. There are many different species around the world. One of which you might have heard about before, if not by name, because it has its nest stolen by the soup trade in Thailand! Your wallet will bump into that one when you go on holiday!
We only have one species naturally nesting here, the Common Swift. And it is common continentally, but… it’s not as common as it used to be here, particularly in our northernmost European climate, with housing, and insect challenges.
Our common swifts fly maybe hundreds of miles per day. Every single day. Even while they are here in Hythe. It’s quite hard to believe.
They migrate to Africa for nine months of the year, and then come here to breed between May and July, maybe for five to ten years consecutively depending on their own luck.
A newly fledged swift probably won’t breed for its first two years and will stay in the air permanently from the second it leaves the nest! Unlike swallows and martins, swifts don’t land at all. They only dive into a hole high above ground for a few weeks while nesting. For the rest of their whole life they are in the air unless they need to shelter from atrocious weather for some reason when they have been seen huddled together on a high sheltered wall. This is very rare though.
They’ve been with us now for about 50 million years, longer than most other birds, and they arrived just after the dinosaurs said goodbye. They used to live sparsely in areas with rock crevices, maybe cliffs and tree holes. Once the ice age retreated, they could naturally extend their northern range as trees and insects came back. But once we got farming and building with more solid materials in the last thousand years or so, we gave them a chance to move in with us in many more areas. Human activity involving livestock and waste, encouraged insect populations to grow, and our buildings left plenty of gaps for nesting opportunities. Our population also increased rapidly, and we built factories and churches. Each had plenty of potential nesting places to choose from and to extend their operational range.
They’ve done pretty well for the last thousand years and they now love our towns and cities. They are the new cliffs and crags. They even live in London, and all over Europe, but their numbers in the UK are dwindling. They don’t mind traffic noise, or street commotion but they need stable places to colonise and nest.
Northern Europe is an area where they constantly try to colonise, but there’s less food, more weather risks, less locations to nest, but on the flip side, longer feeding days which compensate somewhat. As in all of nature, it’s a risky business and they are in need of a little help in the UK now to keep them with us. They won’t become extinct as a species, but they might withdraw from us geographically speaking if they can’t overcome their local difficulties.
Their visual relatives, the swallows and martins are more farm and country dwellers. They both attach their mud cups to almost any country building in the right places to suit themselves. The only thing they actually have in common is their flying insect food source. That’s where their similarities end. They are not actually from the same family line. In fact, swifts are related to hummingbirds. Swifts need ready made holes with the right outlook which puts them more at risk immediately. They need to be out of the sun, usually facing away from it if possible, and with a sufficient drop and flight path free of nearby obstructions.
Recently, our buildings are being built or renovated to be virtually airtight, and swifts are dropping in numbers as their nesting opportunities get blocked up. About a 60% drop in just 30 years and still going down, especially in bad weather years. Although swifts are on the RSPB red list, and people are trying to get building regulations changed to incorporate holes for them, they are not actually in danger globally, despite what you might assume by reading various publications. They are just less likely to be as successful as they were in the UK a hundred years ago, and consequently, their presence in many places is slowly being lost so their local impact is dwindling.
Good news for Hythe though – they are still here! But we don’t know how long for. We are also on the migratory flight path as it cuts across western Europe as they pass across the south coast heading further north. They might have a look around here for a new house, but they have a very strong homing signal from birth and probably pass us high up.
We can help their existing community to expand here though, by providing suitable homes for them.
We know very little about them for 9 months of the year, but some modern tracking systems are revealing more about their winter travels in Africa.
They live for maybe up to ten years or so. They usually stick with the same partner, if possible, usually nest in the same place for life, and eat, drink, sleep, chat, date, mate, and even collect nesting materials all in the air! They catch thousands of insects per day, and have incredibly good eyesight, visual processing power and turning ability. Catching a greenfly at 30+mph isn’t easy!
Once you take notice of them around the town, you will be sure to fall in love with them. Around their colonies, they often zoom about in circles, really close to the rooftops, in groups of about 5 – 15, looking like the Red Arrows and screeching loudly. These are called “Screaming Parties”. It’s often described as the “sound of summer” by older folk who remember them in higher numbers in the past. They appear so joyous and happy bombing around in their parties that you simply can’t be miserable when you experience one.
I saw my first screaming parties in Hythe last year. They ignore all the goings on below at street level, including our telegraph wires, while skimming over the rooftops. I am only aware of one main group in the town so far, but the more we encourage them to spread out, the more integrated they can become in our community.
As night approaches, about half an hour after sunset, they have a late party or two if it’s been a nice day, and then literally vanish into thin air. I always found it interesting that within a minute of seeing the last one in the evening, a bat would turn up! That’s their handover to the night shift! Due to their flying similarities, insect diet and this exact timing, I think of swifts now as our daytime bats!
But where do the swifts actually go at night? Yes, some will be in their nests keeping the chicks warm, but where are all the unattached singles and homeless couples spending the night?
What happens, is they spiral up into the sky above Hythe, as high as our tallest mountains, to go to sleep. Sort of upstairs if you like! One half of their brain sleeps, while the other half keeps the wings flapping. That’s what I call multitasking!
They are used to avoiding storms etc and are well under night time airline flight paths, but they are still on red alert even up there while sleeping and can react accordingly should the need arise.
This way to ➡️ 4. Life on the wing