Swifts And Hirundines
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−−− BY LINDA JENKINSON −−−

At this time of year I’m up early each morning to feed the chicks that are occupying my spare room here in Leeds 4. My spare room is the Leeds Swift Sanctuary but, as well as providing a temporary home for swifts, I also rear and rehabilitate house martins and the occasional swallow. 

The season usually starts with a steady stream of grounded breeding adult swifts. These birds are faithful to their nesting sites inside the roof space of our homes. Sadly, many swifts return from Africa to find that the access to their nest has been blocked due to reroofing, guttering and the fitting of new soffits and boards. Swifts are so attached to their nest site that they will make repeated attempts to get inside, frequently killing themselves in the process or becoming mortally wounded. If they’re lucky, they may just be found exhausted and will be taken to a swift rehabilitator to recover and fly again. We can never know if those birds return to their blocked nest site once released but it’s unlikely that bird will breed again that year. The displacement of adult swifts contributes greatly to the population decline. With each pair producing a maximum of 3 chicks, the loss of a colony due to building work impacts directly on future years. A chick can take 2-3 years to mature and, with the observed rate of ‘development’ in a city like Leeds, it’s easy to see how quickly a species can disappear from our skies. 

After the first wave of adult casualties, I’m usually brought a few house martin chicks. House martins make their mud nests under the eaves of houses or in the corner of windows. Again, they are faithful to their nesting sites but they rebuild or repair last year’s nest. Chicks tend to need rehabbing when a parent has been predated and the nest has been abandoned or after the nest has fallen. This often happens because the nest has been attached to plastic soffits and windows, the mud doesn’t attach as well as on wood. I can usually tell that the nest has been abandoned because all the chicks are well developed but underweight and if the nest has fallen the chicks are usually very well fed, in fact the parents are often still trying to feed the chicks while they’re on the ground. Sadly, we have to take those chicks into care as they’re not able to survive on the ground in an urban area. 

■ House martins

The tricky bit about hirundines, house martins and swallows (not related to swifts), is that they get supported and mentored around the nest site by their parents. We’re not able to do this in the same way so we keep them for a little longer and give them a chance to exercise their wings in a flexarium or a tent. Eventually they’re ready for release and we fly them at the Parkway Hotel near Golden Acre Park. They have a lovely house martin colony there. We fly them on sunny days when there are other fledglings around so that they can all learn together. 

Finally, from mid June, swift chicks begin to arrive. We often receive these because a roof has been removed during the breeding season. Sadly, this can be wilful destruction or because no survey was carried out before work commenced. More often it’s because the chicks have fallen out of the nest because they are hungry or dehydrated during spells of hot weather. Swift chicks remain in the nest for up to 42 days and are not supported by their parents on fledging so it’s a long period of hand feeding, almost every hour, until they’re ready to leave. Each swift costs around £12 per week to feed and, during busy years (we had 54 swifts last year) this can get very expensive. So, if anyone would like to donate towards our costs, please get in touch with us at leeds.swifts@gmail.com. 

You could also help us halt the decline of swifts and house martins by contacting us before work is done on your house, either to protect an existing colony or to aim to start a new one by fitting swift/house martin nest boxes or integrated swift bricks. 

Linda Jenkinson teaches people about birds in and around Leeds. For details of classes email linda@startbirding.co.uk or call 07778 768719. Visit www.startbirding.co.uk or Start Birding on Facebook and Twitter 

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