Share to ClassroomStudy: Swifts Return to Same Nests
A 15-year study by a British bird charity, the RSPB, has shown how loyal swifts are to their nests. Scientists watched 190 swifts at 243 nests in a village in Devon, England. Each bird had a numbered ring on its leg, so the team could tell them apart. They found that 94% of the swifts came back to the same nest as the year before. The birds were more loyal to their nests than to their partners.
This matters because the swift is one of Britain's most threatened birds. Its numbers have fallen by about 70% since 1995. The main reason is that nests are lost when old buildings get new roofs or new insulation. Because swifts return to the same place, losing one nest is very harmful. So bird groups want "swift bricks" — simple hollow bricks that cost about £35 — to be put into new houses. Scotland now requires this by law, but England has refused.
Malcolm Burgess, a scientist at the RSPB, said the study proved what experts had long believed. He warned that swift numbers could fall further without new nests. The study came out before UK Swift Awareness Week, when more than 150 local groups hold events to protect the birds. The groups fear the current heatwave could kill young birds in hot nests.
