Migrating swifts loyally return every year to nests in buildings, study finds
Summary
A study shows that migratory swifts return every year to the same nests in buildings, highlighting the need to provide them with special hollow bricks for nesting when their usual sites are lost. The swift, which has declined by 70% in Britain since 1995 due to loss of nesting sites, is now protected by laws in Scotland but not in England.Key Facts
- Swifts return to the same nest about 94% of the time each year.
- The swift population in Britain has dropped 70% since 1995 because old buildings where they nest are renovated.
- Scotland requires new buildings to have hollow swift bricks for nesting, but England does not.
- The RSPB studied 190 swifts over 15 years in a village on Dartmoor.
- Only about 59% of swifts return with the same partner each year.
- Some nesting boxes see fights between swifts competing for use.
- Local groups help protect swifts and care for babies that fall to the ground.
- A heatwave this year may cause more baby swifts to fall from nests and need rescue.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.