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About Swifts

What is a Swift?

Swifts have existed for millions of years. They are the distinctly shaped birds that we see in groups on summer evenings, making an annual migration from Africa to breed here in the UK. They fly at speed, high above us, while emitting loud, high pitched calls. These groups are referred to as ‘screaming parties’.  Watching them noisily wheeling at top speed through the clouds and zooming down among the roofs on a summer’s evening can truly make the heart sing. 

A photograph looking up at a silhouetted swift in flight. Courtesy of Ben Andrew Wildlife Photography.
Courtesy of BEN ANDREW
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY
A close up photograph looking up at a swift in flight. Courtesy of Ben Andrew Wildlife Photography.
Courtesy of BEN ANDREW
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

They are superb fliers, feeding, sleeping, bathing and mating on the wing.  Their top speed can be over 60mph and they hardly ever touch the ground.  Swifts mate for life and return to the same nest each year.

The swifts visit this country to breed, arriving from Africa in late April/ early May. By August, the baby swifts hatch out, learn to fly and are ready to leave with their parents for the 3,400 mile trip back to Africa.

Swifts are now RED on the UK Conservation List of Endangered Species. You can find out more at the BTO website here.

Breeding

After building their nest in a gap under a building’s eaves, swifts lay 2-3 eggs in May-June.  The babies hatch after about 20 days and fledge after another 5-8 weeks.  In the nest they do ‘press-up’ type exercises to prepare their wings for the amazing feat of flying that is to come.

Two swifts in a nest looking at the camera. Photo Erich Kaiser, Swift Conservation.org.
Two swifts in nest by Erich Kaiser

The parents fly many miles collecting airborne insects and spiders for feeding to their young.  These babies leave the nest in late July or early August, ready for their first migration to Africa, and it will be up to 3 years before they land again.

The second year they come back to the UK is when they start to think of breeding.  They will be looking for a mate and investigating good nesting sites, even trying some nest-building. However, it is in their third year that they will actually breed for the first time.

Annual Migration

Swifts make an annual migration from Africa to breed here in the UK. Countries in Equatorial Africa such as Congo and Angola are over 3,000 miles away and swifts fly there and back every year.  It is one of the longest bird migration journeys in the world and an amazing feat of flying.  The average swift can fly 350 miles in a day and one that was tracked took only five days to get from the UK to West Africa.

A group of swifts arriving from their migration to nest in the UK.
Swift Apus apus, group of birds flying over rooftops where they are actively encouraged to nest in houses, Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, July. Courtesy of BEN ANDREW
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

Around the Equator, swifts can feast on the insects, which rise from hot, swampy rivers.

The British Trust for Ornithology has studied swift migration and you can find out more here: Tracking Swifts | BTO – British Trust for Ornithology

Food

So many insects, flies and spiders are swept up far into the sky by air currents that swifts are able to find all their food while flying.  On their long migration they can eat without having to land like many other birds.

They are drawn to areas with lakes and rivers as those are a good environment for insect life.  Aphids are a particularly good source of nutrition.

Swifts have a space in their throat called a ‘bolus’ where they can keep insects while travelling far from the nest to collect food for their brood.

Swifts make an annual migration from Africa to breed here in the UK. Learn more about how you can make a difference for swifts.