The swift is an amazing bird that is under threat. They are on the red list of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK and are vulnerable to local extinction!
They live on the wing. The only time a swift comes to land is when it is nesting. They eat, drink, mate and even sleep when flying. They are migratory birds and fly all the way from Equatorial Africa to nest here and can be seen and heard in our skies from May to August. This is a flight of 14,000 miles. They are the fastest flying bird in the world in level flight, having been recorded at 69.3mph.
They are not related to swallows or house martins, in fact, their nearest relative is the humming bird. They feed exclusively on tiny airborne spiders, mosquitoes, midges, flies and other small flying insects which means they are a brilliant natural pest control. They mix their prey with saliva and store them in a special sack at the back of their throat. Swifts are very clean nesters and make no droppings near the nest, which makes them good house guests! They pair for life and always return to the same nesting spot.
They prefer to nest out of sight in nooks and crannies under eaves in older buildings. Swifts are colonial nesters, which means they nest only in proximity to other nesting swifts. When they fledge they do not touch down again for 2-3 years.
As we renovate old houses or put up new ones there is no place for them to nest as there are now no nooks and crannies under eaves. Imagine having the same summer home every year, travelling that distance and then finding it no longer exists!
We Need To Monitor Swifts Across Chiswick
With continued help with funding from Hounslow Council, we are looking to find more sites across Chiswick, with known swift activity, to install new swift boxes. We are looking for people who are willing to look for swifts across areas of Chiswick between beginning of May and end of August 2024. We are specifically looking for nest sites, installed boxes and areas where swifts are flying low as this indicates they are in an area where they are looking to nest.
Below are the quantities of natural nest sites spotted in Chiswick since 2020. This may seem quite low and could reflect the loss of habitat. However, natural nests are not easy to spot as the Swift is, well, a swift bird and you need a keen eye to see them enter a nest!
| Year | Nests |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 6 |
Nests in Chiswick
We need your help – suitable places to install boxes and ladder nifty volunteers to help us install.
Thanks to another Thriving Communities Grant from Hounslow Borough Council we have funding to continue running our awareness, monitoring and box installing project. So far we have installed 22 nest boxes during 2023. This is 11 sites as Swifts are communal nesters, so we need to put up at least 2 boxes per site. Boxes are best placed on north, north east or north west facing walls at least four metres high and tucked close under eaves. West and east locations that receive sun for just part of the day can sometimes prove suitable too, by using nest boxes with white roofs of a good thickness to reflect sunlight and insulate from heat. There should be nothing underneath the wall that would break the flight of fledging birds as they first take to wing.
We are asking people who live in areas of Chiswick where we know there are swifts to agree to have swift boxes installed. There needs to be at least two boxes per wall. Areas include (but not necessarily restricted to) :
- Devonshire Road and surrounding streets.
- Grove Park Terrace, St Thomas’ Road, Burnbaby Gardens and surrounding streets.
- St Albans Road, Mayfield Road and surrounding streets.
- Turnham Green.
- The Mall.
Monitoring Swift Activity
We want to continue the monitoring of swifts across Chiswick during the months of May through end of August. Monitoring all species is important. Monitoring vulnerable species is especially important so we can establish where and how we can help them.
We need help from anyone willing to look for swifts flying low over areas of Chiswick at dawn and dusk. We can assign areas of interest. Also anyone who sees low flying swifts as they go about their daily business – please report the sighting including time, date and street. Plus amount of birds if possible! We can supply a reporting sheet – email swifts@wildchiswick.com.
Below is an interactive map showing sightings of Swifts across Chiswick for the past several years. Due to the nature of the Swift – it only lands if nesting, flies as a community and can cover large distances searching for food – it is not an easy task to work out actual numbers. However, it does give us an idea of where they are likely to be seen and areas that are showing fewer or more sightings year upon year.
Ways To Help
Contact us if you believe you have suitable space to install boxes.
Contact us if you are willing to monitor for swifts from May to August.
Contact us if you are a builder or roofer who is kind enough to volunteer to help with installations.
email – swifts@wildchiswick.com
We are a not-for-profit community group and our running costs are via grants or public donation. If you would like to support our work for wildlife please donate using the link below. Thank you for caring for wildlife.