Swift identification and facts

Grab your binoculars!

Swallows, House Martins, Sand Martins and Swifts all migrate from Africa to Europe every summer, a long journey of approximately 6,000 miles! They migrate back in September and October.

When the birds are flying fast, they can be tricky to identify so this may help you to tell the difference.

Swallows - glossy, dark blue above and creamy white below with a dark red forehead. Long deeply forked tail. Often seen round farmland and villages, often perching up high on wires. Chattering call. Easiest way to identify – long forked tail.

Swifts - dark brown all over, almost black with small pale patch on throat. Larger than martins and swallows, long curving wings. Very sociable, often seen in groups calling to each other with high pitched screams. Swifts spend most of their lives flying, fast soaring high in the sky– they can sleep, eat and drink on the wing so only land to nest. They nest in the eaves of houses or under tiny gaps in tiles on roofs. Easiest way to identify -dark undersides and screaming call. A group of Swifts is called a Scream and when they are all flying and calling they are known as a screaming party. Listen to their call here.

House Martins - glossy black above, completely white below, seen in towns and villages, make mud cup nests beneath the eves of house. Often visit puddles to collect mud for nests. Easiest way to identify – all white undersides, short v-shaped tail. Swoop through the air catching insects on the wing.

Sand Martins-brown above, white below with a brown band across its breast short, forked tail, nest in burrows so dig in sandy banks, nesting in colonies often close together, seen over water in coastal and wetland areas. Easiest way to identify - all brown upperparts and dark band across breast separating the white throat from the white belly.

Facts and information

• Swifts return to the UK from Africa between April/May to August/September. Their journey is around 14,000 miles – 22,000km and they pass over about 25 different countries.
• They rarely land at all, so if you see what you think is a Swift at rest it is probably not one.
• Scientists think they can keep flying by being able to switch off half their brain to get rest while the other half keeps active.
• They sleep, eat and drink on the wing. They drink by gliding over water and taking sips or by catching raindrops. They bathe in a similar way.
• They weigh about the same as a Cadburys Cream Egg but can live for up to 21 years! (average lifespan is 5.5 years)
• There are approximately 59,000 breeding pairs in the UK.
• They used to nest in cliffs and caves but have adapted to city life and can nest in buildings, up in the eaves, gables or upper walls.
• They catch the materials for their nest mid-flight – feathers, seeds or flying bits of grass. They then pack it together using their own saliva.
• Swifts leave their nests by dropping into the air from the entrance – that’s why they make nests in the eaves high up.
• They pair up and breed for life, the female can have 2 or 3 eggs and they will reuse the same nest year after year.
• They collect insects at the back of their throats in a ‘bolus’ They can store moths and beetles and other insects here and mix with their salvia which they then feed to their chicks.
• They are very noisy! They have a screaming call and when they are in groups flying high around their nesting areas they are known as ‘screaming parties’.
• You can often see them at dusk and will probably hear them before you can spot them.
• They are the fastest bird in the UK in level flight ie. flying horizontally without moving up or down, and they can reach speeds up to 70mph.
• They can eat as many as 100,000 insects each day.
• If you do find a Swift on the ground it is probably injured or sick- if possible move it to a warm box, then contact a local rescue centre.