Swifts and Us: The Life of the Bird that Sleeps in the Sky

Just as the May return of our breeding Swifts delivers a feeling of reassurance, so their late summer departure leaves a sense of loss. That loss, repeated each year, now carries the greater weight that comes from knowledge of the decline in UK Swift populations, evident in BTO’s long-term datasets. Sarah Gibson came to Swifts late but is a passionate local advocate for this long-distance traveller, involved in efforts to identify and protect breeding sites and increase awareness. Through this book she recounts her travels across Europe to watch Swifts; from the Little Swifts she encounters in the Spanish seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, to the Alpine Swifts of Saluzzo in Italy. Central to these trips are the encounters with those, like her, who dedicate time to these wonderful birds. Although the text jumps around a little, the book is broadly split into two sections; the first covers Swift behaviour and ecology and the second the encounters with Swifts and those who study them.

As you might expect, there is a chapter dedicated to the Swifts that breed in the tower of the Oxford Museum of Natural History, so famously brought to wider attention by David Lack and the film by Derek Bromhall. Other chapters highlight much of the conservation work that is taking place across the UK, from Edward Mayer and Jake Allsop in England to Mark Smyth and others active in Northern Ireland. There is even a short section on what to do if you find a grounded Swift, which basically says don’t do anything – just get it to a Swift rehabilitator. A short series of excellent photographs, including one of Laurent Godel’s dynamic portraits of Swift flights, sits at the centre of the book. Overall an enjoyable read which, while it lacks the compelling narrative of David Lack’s classic on the species or the lyricism of essays by Richard Mabey or Helen Macdonald, delivers an engaging portrait of the world of Swift conservation.

Book reviewed by Mike Toms