Photo of a swift (Apus apus) by David Chapman
I.
I like most birds.
But I particularly like the little birds that used to be seen in British skies and which I remember from my childhood: birds like the swift, for example, which I was saddened (but not surprised) to discover is now on the conservation red list; i.e., heading for extinction unless action is taken swiftly to enable it to survive [1].
If a bird can be characterised as a warm-blooded vertebrate possessing feathers which likes to nest and lay eggs, for me it's the ability to fly that really makes a bird a bird [2].
And the swift can fly further, faster and higher than almost any other bird; they even eat, sleep, and mate on the wing, hardly ever bothering to land. So this makes it a kind of super-bird in my eyes, although it used to be popularly known as the devil bird (perhaps because of its forked tail).
Like other small birds, such as swallows and sparrows, they like to live in tiny gaps in the roofs and walls of old houses and churches. But thanks to our obsession today with renovation and insulation - and the ugly new buildings which are designed to afford no other creature shelter or sanctuary - their traditional nest sites are fast disappearing.
Personally, I don't want to live in a world without nooks and crannies, moonlight, moths and spider-webs. And I certainly don't want to live in a world without swifts, which is why I fully support the actions of Hannah Bourne-Taylor - a posh bird prepared to get her kit off in defence of a once common little bird ...
II.
Whilst I like birds, Hannah Bourne-Taylor really likes birds - and she's particularly a fan of the swift, as a video uploaded to YouTube earlier this year makes clear: click here.
This is the kind of woman who would let a baby finch nest in her hair for three months [3], so obviously she'd be prepared to strip naked on a chilly November day and march through London wearing nothing but bodypaint designed by the Italian artist Guido Daniele to resemble the markings on a bird as part of a campaign (supported by the RSPB and Rewriting Extinction) to support declining species in the UK.
And good on her, I say, though - and this is a small quibble - if you're going to stage a naked protest, then do remove your knickers, otherwise it somewhat lessens the impact and seems a bit lame.
On Bonfire Day, Ms Bourne-Taylor first made a speech at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, then set off to Downing Street where she submitted a petition to Number 10, asking that so-called swift bricks [4] be made compulsory in new housing developments.
Ms Bourne-Taylor is hoping that her petition will gather 100,000 signatures, so that it will be debated in Parliament. Obviously, I wish her luck with that and encourage readers to add their name to the petition by clicking here.
Photo credit: PA Images
Notes
[1] The breeding population of swifts in the UK has fallen by 50% in the last twenty years. There are now thought to be around 59,000 breeding pairs.
[2] I am aware, obviously, that there are species of flightless birds, including penguins and emus, for example, but these creatures have, through evolution, lost the ability to fly (which is why they still possess wings).
[3] I'm not exaggerating or making this up; see her piece in The Guardian (25 March, 2022): click here.
[4] Swift bricks, are as the name suggests, bricks with a hollow space that provides a suitable nesting environment for swifts, or other small birds, including sparrows, house martins, and starlings.
