FUNERAL FOR A SWIFT

Posted: 04.08.25 in Articles category

 

Some people are passionate about swifts. Two such people are my sister and brother-in-law who have installed as many as eleven swift nesting boxes under the eaves of their tall, terraced house since 2003. They have also set up a group in their Yorkshire village, Eldwick Swifts, raising awareness of the plight of British swifts who have lost more than 60% of nest sites over the past 30 years.  

 Let me tell their story. Jonathan and Monique Lees moved to their Victorian era house in Eldwick near Bingley back in 1999, knowing that they needed to make roof repairs which they did the following year. During the next couple of years, however, they noticed that swifts were no longer returning in the spring to breed. They were mortified to realise that those roof repairs had apparently blocked off entrances to historic nest roles and they wanted to make amends. In 2003 Jonathan and Monique put up their first swift boxes and tried to lure local swifts by playing recordings of swift calls to attract new birds, but without success. Nevertheless, they persisted with attraction calls and the first swifts started nesting in 2006.

 Let’s forward to 2025.This spring some new boxes were installed to replace some of the older boxes, and everything seemed well with all last year’s swifts returning. Sadly, tragedy struck on 29 May when one of those new swift boxes fell off and crashed to the ground. Inside the box were 2 smashed eggs and a dead swift – the parent who had been sitting on the nest. My sister sent me a WhatsApp message that day with a grim photo and a poignant comment, simply saying that they were “heartbroken”.

When we met this summer at a family event, I wanted to know how they had disposed of the swift. Jonathan explained that they had buried her in the garden under a banana plant as a symbolic reminder of African skies where she would have spent the winter. He went on to say that they had carried out a short commemorative ceremony as they laid the bird to rest, saying a prayer for the other swifts around their house, thanking God for swifts in general and remembering the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 10 about no sparrow being forgotten by our heavenly Father. Whatever the theological nuances, having a funeral for that swift seemed an appropriate thing to do.

Back to the living. Six of the eleven nestboxes have been occupied by swifts this year and two of the other boxes have been visited, raising the real possibility next year of eight boxes being occupied and their swift colony growing further. However small that change may seem, it’s surely a sign of hope!