Thank you for contributing your observations of common swifts in South Africa!

Common swifts winter in South Africa. Why is it so important that we learn more about their life during this season?

1. Observing common swifts during their stay in South Africa can be hard: They live airbound in sparsely populated landscapes. Here, their habitats overlap with those of other swifts that may look very similar. Their typical calls will not be heard again until they return to their breeding grounds in Europe. As a result of all this, there aren't many studies on the life and behavior of common swifts in South Africa.
2. The popular image we have of the common swift is determined by the few months it spends at its breeding sites between Morocco and Algeria in the south and the countries of the far north of Europe. If we imagine common swifts, we see them flying in towns, where they breed in the rooftops of buildings or niches in high walls. We know that the little bird achieves tremendous flight performance in its lifetime. But we cannot imagine from our own experience what it means for an organism to twice a year cross on its own mountains, sea and desert, defying the dangers and the climate on two different continents.
3. Since mankind is increasingly making use of this world in order to satisfy its own needs, the situation of nature has deteriorated. The ecological balance that enabled the way of life of our ingeniously adapted migratory birds, is upset. If we finally learned more about how swifts spend the "other" 9 months of the year, wouldn't that incite us to better protect them in all the places where they live? If we succeed in preserving the vaste living spaces of the common swift, countless other creatures that share them will also benefit: not least of all we ourselves.

Posted on November 13, 2022 06:45 AM by spyr