September 2021

66
Wanstead Village Directory
The Wren Wildlife Group, London Wildlife Trust and Wild Wanstead
have compiled a list of 10 species at risk of local extinction. In
the seventh of a series of articles looking at each species in turn,
Susie Knox says farewell to this summer’s swifts
Over the last few months, it’s been a
joy to hear the distinctive screaming
of the swifts as they zoom in small
groups high over Wanstead in their endless
aerial search for insects. Swifts spend
most of their lives flying, even sleeping,
eating and drinking on the wing and only
ever landing to nest. Their scientific name,
Apus, actually means ‘without feet’ because
their tiny feet and legs mean they can
hardly walk and can’t perch on trees or
telephone lines (if you see a similar-looking
bird do this, it’s probably a swallow or
house martin).
Swifts come to the UK in the summer to breed
and spend their winters in Africa – travelling
thousands of miles during their migration.
They like to nest high up in buildings in
small holes in roof spaces. They pair for life,
meeting up in the spring at the same nest site
and sharing
parenting
duties. They
normally lay
two or three eggs and
incubate them for about
three weeks.
Sadly, swifts are on the
Amber List of Birds of Conservation
Concern. More than half of British
swifts have been lost since 1995, probably
because of a number of factors. We know
from scientific evidence and the absence of
bugs on our car windscreens that there have
been very significant declines in flying insects,
their food source.
As migratory birds, weather events associated
with climate change will also impact them.
But one very obvious issue in the UK is the
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