Carlow birdwatchers encouraged to report sightings of swifts in their area

BIRDWATCHERS across Carlow should keep an eagle eye out for the highly endangered swift this summer.

BirdWatch Ireland is undertaking breeding swift surveys across counties Carlow, Monaghan, and Offaly and needs the public's help to locate nesting Swifts in these three counties.

The project is supported by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) under the National Biodiversity Action Plan, and is a collaboration with Carlow County Council, Monaghan County Council, and Offaly County Council.

Across the Republic of Ireland, swift numbers have declined rapidly in the last few decades. According to the Countryside Bird Survey, operated by BirdWatch Ireland on behalf of NPWS, Irish swift populations fell by 58% between 1998 and 2016. As such, the swift is now on Ireland’s endangered or Birds of Conservation Concern Red List, alongside other notable species such as the curlew, corncrake and kestrel.

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Swifts are incredible creatures, according to Tara Adcock, BirdWatch Ireland’s Urban Birds Project Officer. “This tiny bird, weighing around 40 grams, spends most of its life in the air, only coming to land to nest. It sleeps on the wing, eats, and drinks on the wing, mates on the wing and gathers its nesting material on the wing.”

“Unfortunately, we are seeing drastic declines in our breeding Swift population in Ireland and across much of Europe. In Ireland, we lost 58% of our breeding Swift population in just 18 years! If this rate of loss continues, we will lose our Swift population in Ireland in the next decade or so,” Tara continued.

We need your help finding swifts, particularly in counties #Offaly, #Carlow and #Monaghan where our 2 Swift Surveyors are already flat out! If you see swifts pls record your sightings at https://t.co/p7G6TnKBwg. If you want to lend a hand email swifts@birdwatchireland.ie! Thanks! pic.twitter.com/09UQ5TO99L

— BirdWatch Ireland (@BirdWatchIE) June 9, 2023

The reasons for the decline are multi-faceted, but one of the principal driving forces behind the Swifts’ decline may be a lack of nesting space. Swifts are an urban species, having evolved to nest in buildings, in crevices and under eaves, in our towns, villages and cities. Renovations to buildings can result in these nest sites being lost. Swifts are highly site-faithful. As such, they find it difficult to find alternative nesting spaces. Indeed, it is thought that many displaced pairs may never find a new nesting site and thus never breed again once their nest site has been lost.

In addition, in the last few decades, modern buildings have become incredibly well-sealed, meaning there are no longer any cracks or crevices for swifts to nest in, and thus no new supply of housing for our feathered neighbours.

To protect swifts, conservationists need to know first and foremost where they are nesting, and to protect these nest sites before they are lost. The BirdWatch Ireland County Swift Surveyors and experienced volunteers are currently working hard across all three counties to catalogue these nest sites. They will continue to do so into August, after which the Swifts will depart for their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa.

Several conservation groups and charities are working hard to reverse the plight of the Swift in Ireland. Such groups include BirdWatch Ireland, Swift Conservation Ireland, Dublin Swift Conservation Group, the Northern Ireland Swift Group, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Northern Ireland, as well as several county councils and Tidy Towns groups. 

If you are aware of swifts nesting in counties Carlow, Monaghan, and Offaly, please email the details (location, number of swifts, number of nest sites if known) to swifts@birdwatchireland.ie.