where are my swifts ?

[mushroom fairy]

Hi every body. i'm pretty sad this summer . at the front of my house just in side the eves of my roof ,for the last 10 years i have lived here there has been a pair of swifts nesting, in the same place. i look forward to them every year, and watch as the parents dive an swirl through the air. i can just see the chicks poke their heads out and squeak loudly as the parents swoop by,to me it makes it summer. but this year i waited for them i kept looking and hoping that the would arrive, may be late i thought ? so would any one have any idea as to why they never came. i know nothing much about their habits, the not knowing sort of made them all the more magic,they just arrived had their chicks and then one day they would be gone,i loved it. i wondered if they stay as a pair for life ?. as it was always the same nest they came to for so long..i live in a urban area that for many years ago was farm land sadly the Greenland areas have gradually been built up. when i first came here as a child i used to see swallows, house martins building nests under the roofs, red admiral and peacock butter flies and sparrows where abundant as we played in the fields and our garden. sorry to waffle on i got carried away then ....... so do you think that perhaps they have died? i cant think why they never came. feel sad that there may be no swifts nesting under my eves again bringing summer with them,do's any one think they will come back. or that another pair will ever nest there, i have blue tits that nest in the back of my house in an old over flow pipe hole that leads into my toilet it has been boxed in so i presume that's where they are each year . and wood pigeons in the tree s in my garden i'm very lucky to be able to enjoy all these gifts of nature.

[cara pace]

Hello Mushroom Fairy.

Sorry to hear that your swifts have not returned this year.

Swifts do stay with the same mate for life and they return to the same nest site each year. I can only guess why they haven't returned this year. Possible factors could be; they chose to stay in Africa, one or both may have died (if one of the pair has died, the other may eventually re-pair with another swift), something is obstructing the access to the nest site (any new telegraph wires etc), destruction of another locally established population could also have had an impact. I think that if there were any other birds nesting there, the swifts would have definitely tried to evict them.

Sadly, swifts have been in decline for a number of years and one of the possible causes is the destruction of their nest sites.

I would be inclined to visit Swift Conservation Homepage You could try to contact them for some advice and it may be worth buying the swift call CD from Swift Conservation (I think they're only about £5). Playing it may attract any swifts passing by when they return next year. Sounds like it must have been a good nest site as they returned each year for so long.

I posted another thread about swifts a while ago which will give you some swifty facts if you're interested. Swift care advice

[mushroom fairy]

[quote=cara pace;818525]Hello Mushroom Fairy.

Sorry to hear that your swifts have not returned this year.

thank you for you reply i found it very helpful and interesting it was very informative without being stuffy . i loved reading it. i hope then that perhaps they may reaper next year . when i think back i do not remember any of the swifts calling out side in the this year ? i will definitely look up the sites ect you advised. many thanks once again for a delightful reply. cheers mushroom fairy