Swifts, Wildflowers & Wellbeing

28 Apr 2022

Swifts, wildflowers & wellbeing - RSPB’s Katie O’Neill talks to us about the joys of swifts, the Edinburgh Swift City project and how they can help your wellbeing.

Butterflies a fluttering, bluebells unfurling

But the true sign of summer, is the wee swift returning…

The swift, a small yet powerful bird, returns this month to fill our skies with soft screaming parties. The dark brown anchor shaped acrobats mark the beginning of warmer days ahead, giving us a lift in our wellbeing.

Swift fact file

The common swift (Apus apus) earns its name for being the fastest flying bird at level height, reaching up to 69mph, and has been around since the T-rex went extinct 60 million years ago!

The wonderful wee bird has incredibly strong wings, flying nonstop for ten months as far south as Nyanja ya Malawi (Lake Malawi) and iGoli (Johannesburg) in Southeast Africa, before coming back to Northern Eurasia.

They sleep, drink, bathe & eat whilst flying.

The common swifts (Apus apus) northern breeding and southern wintering/feeding range

Hope for the swifts

As well as inspiring a sense of awe by their unique and ancient ways, the swift is commonly associated with a sense of hope in local folklore. Their return at the start of May coincides with Bealtaine, a Celtic Festival that denotes the beginning of summer. This time brought a sense of relief for people of the past, who had lasted a long cold winter on preserved foods.

Today, the swift is a symbol of hope for some people. How to be and feel effective in the face of ecological collapse is something many people struggle with. Yet with swifts we have the power to protect and enhance their populations in a simple and easy way in our own homes and that is extremely hopeful.

Swift Caller, available to purchase on Swift Conservation website, Credit: Swift Conservation

Swift Box, Credit: Swift Conservation

What tangible tasks can you do for the swifts on your doorstep?

There are plenty of activities you can do at home or in your local community to support swifts populations.

Install a swift nest box (1) on your local community building or your home, and if you can manage a swift caller (2). Swift callers are speakers the play the swift call. The call attracts the swifts to investigate the site, which has been shown to increase the likelihood of nesting. RSPB Swift Next Box
Know where swifts are nesting in your local area by looking at and contributing to Swift Mapper. Swift mapper is an online mapping tool where you can add your swift sighting of screaming parties and swift nests. It’s explained on the RSPB website here. Swift Mapper (3)
Swifts feed far and wide from their nests, above water bodies, woodland and farmland, eating flying insects. Protecting these areas as well as planting wildlife-friendly native flowers and trees in your own outdoor space can only support the local flying insect population. See here some tips on how to do this. (4)
Join a Swift Local Network (5) group near you or set up your own local group.
Ask local housing developers, architects, and homeowners to incorporate swift bricks (6) into their housing designs for example the Manthrope brick was created with Manthorpe Building Products, RSPB, Barratt Developments PLC and local swift conservation groups. (7)
Keep an eye on your local swifts year on year, keeping in mind the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Amended) (8) that stipulates it is illegal to disturb a wild bird’s nest during nesting season

The swifts and wellbeing

I’m sure if you are reading this you are already aware of the physical and mental benefits of being outside in nature. It has been shown that just ten minutes in a natural space reduces stress levels. (9)

That is why we made a little resource pack of quick and simple wellbeing activities to do in 10 minutes outside.

There’s two a day for everyday of a working week, which you could do at lunch time and after work. We warmly encourage you to incorporate these into your life over the next months as the swifts zoom around the skies, before leaving at the beginning of August. You can view and download the activity sheet here (10).

This pack was made as part of the Edinburgh Swift City Project which ran 2020-2021(11). Throughout this project we engaged with a wide range of communities across the city who carried out a variety of activities in their local area.

We had areas creating a “Swift Street” which involved multiple buildings hosting swift nest boxes, wildflower abundant greenspaces, gardens and curbs, pesticides being banned, and even swift themed art murals. Across the city around 500 swift surveys were carried out, 180 nest boxes installed and 45 people were trained to build nest boxes.

Watch here to find out more about our story. Swift Street(12)

Are these ideas something your local community could get involved in for Swift Awareness Week 2022?

1.https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/nature-on-your-doorstep/garden-activities/create-a-high-home-for-swifts/

2. https://www.swift-conservation.org/Shopping!.htm

3. https://www.rspb.org.uk/swiftmapper

4. https://www.rspb.org.uk/sowyourseeds

5. http://actionforswifts.blogspot.com/2015/02/swifts-local-network.html

6. Action for Swifts: Residential bird box guidance

7. https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/rspb-news-original/news/stories/new-homes-for-swifts--the-manthorpe-swift-brick/

8. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wildlife-and-the-law/wildlife-and-countryside-act/#:~:text=Basic%20protection,in%20use%20or%20being%20built

9. https://www.vet.cornell.edu/news/20200225/spending-time-nature-reduces-stress-and-anxiety#:~:text=New%20research%20from%20an%20interdisciplinary,stress%20both%20physically%20and%20mentally

10. Swift Summer Series - please see document below