Filtrer
Filtrer
The nest box should be installed on an apartment building or other building, as high as possible (4 metres is the ideal height), on the roof, on a windowsill. The nest box should not be directly exposed to wind and rain. The entrance to the nest box must be well clear to make it easier for Common Swifts to take off.
You can place one or two handfuls of hay inside the nest, which the swifts will distribute to make their nest. Swifts almost never land on the ground, so this will speed up nest construction.
Apus apus)
As if it had a small internal clock, the Common Swift always returns on the same dates.
Its streamlined body and long, slender wings make it a champion of flight. Its normal speed is 60 to 90 km/h, but it can reach 170 km/h. The Common Swift spends most of its life in the air, where it hunts, sleeps, displays, mates, and performs all kinds of manoeuvres. Even to drink, it skims the surface of the water while gliding!
It is a typical migrant, travelling back and forth in flocks between its breeding grounds and its winter quarters on almost fixed dates. It leaves Europe right in the middle of summer not because it senses the approach of autumn, but because the days are getting shorter.
The Common Swift does not rest at night, and some airplane pilots have spotted its silhouette at high altitudes. In bad weather, however, it is forced to stop and then clings vertically to a wall or cliff.
It only needs a few weeks to reach Central Africa, from where it returns in spring.
Swifts are special birds that live most of their lives in flight. They can even remain in the air for months without interruption if necessary. Before building a nest or starting to breed, the swift will probably need a suitable nesting site, as natural places to build a nest are disappearing rapidly. This nest box is therefore the perfect solution. Offer the swift an ideal breeding site with this nest box. The swift will then return every year.
Clean the nest box in autumn; brush the nest to remove any droppings that may be present; replace the hay with fresh hay to avoid any risk of diseases or fungi linked to humidity.
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