One of my most vivid memories of living in Lewes, the county town of East Sussex, is of sitting out in our garden on summer evenings watching the displays of Swifts circling at breakneck speed above our heads, filling the air with their high-pitched cries. Unmusical but somehow joyous and unforgettable.
That was many decades ago, and tragically the numbers that filled those skies have shrunk to a handful of birds, still performing their grand prix circuits above the town. Lewes is not unique in having lost so many of its summer visitors – numbers have dropped so dramatically in recent years that Swifts were added to the red list in the 2021 UK Conservation Status Report.
People have recognised down the centuries that Swifts are the most extraordinary birds and have built many myths and legends around them. We are only just beginning to understand what makes them so special, and those who have studied them have uncovered some amazing facts.
They live their lives in the air – sleeping, eating, mating on the wing, and only coming to earth briefly to build their nests and rear their young. (Who, incidentally, take to the sky the instant that they fledge and start then and there on the long journey across sea and land to Africa.) Many migrate distances of over 3,400 miles between their winter and summer homes, and once they arrive at their nesting sites they meet up with their mate – swifts mate for life.
What is affecting Swift numbers?
The causes of the decline in their numbers are multiple and complex. Climate change is leading to more extreme weather events, making the long and hazardous migration from the birds’ winter-feeding grounds in Africa to their nesting sites in the UK and continental Europe even more challenging.
The wet and cold springs of recent years have reduced the insect population on which they depend to feed themselves and their young, and the widespread use of pesticides by gardeners and farmers has done further damage.
Think back ten, twenty summers and compare the numbers of insects that littered your car windscreen at the end of a long road journey to the pitiful few squashed corpses on the same journey in the present day. The change is dramatic.
A recent survey carried out by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife suggests that numbers of insects have fallen by 78% since 2004. Given that Swifts need to find about 20,000 insects a day to feed themselves and their chicks, the threat to the population is very real.
So what can be done? Well, one Sussex town is determined to reverse the trend. Lewes Swift Supporters have campaigned for Lewes to be designated a “Swift Friendly Town”, and in September 2024 Lewes Town Council gave their formal approval to the idea. Lewes Swift Supporters, in collaboration with many other local wildlife and conservation groups, are launching six weeks of special events and talks with a parade through the town led by the Mayor of Lewes on the 26 April.
As Audrey Jarvis, secretary of Lewes Swift Supporters, told me when I talked to her about their campaign, so often people feel helpless in the face of the complex challenges that face the natural world – but there really are actions that we as individuals can take to help halt the decline of the Swift population.
Firstly, crucially, stop using pesticides on your garden. Set aside even a small area of your lawn for wildflower planting and leave the grass long. Create a wildlife “pond” by putting out a washing-up bowl filled with water and stones for landing platforms. Encourage neighbours to do the same.
Loss of nesting sites
A significant contributor to the decline of the Swift population is the loss of nesting sites. Traditionally, they have built nests in the crevices of old buildings, small gaps between roof and soffit, or cavities where the mortar might be missing between bricks in older houses.
As Hannah Bourne-Taylor, a passionate campaigner on behalf of Swifts, explains: “We are inadvertently destroying their old cavity nesting sites through renovation, demolition and insulation, while climate mitigation measures mean modern buildings will never provide natural homes for birds.”
She leads a campaign to persuade the government to make mandatory the fitting of Swift-bricks to all new builds, creating new nesting sites for Swifts and other cavity-nesting birds. Her website provides advice on how to compose a letter to your MP supporting the Swift-brick campaign.
Lewes Swift Supporters are working hard to reverse the decline in numbers. They have put up two hundred Swift boxes on buildings around the town and encourage householders to get in touch to discuss the installation of nest boxes. They fund any boxes that are near to an existing Swift colony.
Audrey and her husband are part of a team of surveyors that have been monitoring Swifts and recording occupied nest boxes over a period of six years. Perhaps unsurprisingly the peak number recorded occurred during lockdown, underlining the fact that human activity and changes to construction processes are having a catastrophic impact on the conditions needed to sustain a healthy Swift population.
Not only would the disappearance of that wonderful aerial summer display be a great sadness to all those who have enjoyed it over the years but there is also a more fundamental issue at stake. Swifts are a biodiversity indicator and their loss from our summer skies presages the wider extinction of many species, leading long-term to a profound threat to the health and well-being of the human population. Bringing back Swifts to our skies can only benefit us all in the long-term.
Some suggestions of useful websites to visit to learn more about Swifts and the Swift-brick campaign:
BirdNote.org: https://www.birdnote.org/explore/sights-sounds/video/2017/11/common-swifts-circling-and-calling
RSPB: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/swift
Manchester Metropolitan University (news story): https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/swifts-delayed-cold-and-wet-springs-face-mounting-problems-climate
Lewes Swift Friendly Town events at the Climate Hub :https://lewesclimatehub.org/celebrate-our-swift-friendly-town
Swift Conservation: https://swift-conservation.org
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