May’s Birds of the Month – we’re celebrating our spring migrants

May’s a brilliant month for birds, as summer’s coming and our spring migrants are starting to arrive here to breed. Look to the skies for a wonderful May spectacle. If you’re an early bird, it’s a feast for the ears as well. The dawn chorus is at its peak at this time of year, when nature’s finest songsters put on a wonderful early morning show for us all. 

Also known as Devil Birds, shriek owls, screechers and skeer devils, the sound of a group of screaming Swifts is a sure sign that spring is coming, and the days are getting warmer! 

Swifts are incredible birds, and one of our greatest long-distance athletes. They’ve undertaken a crazy journey to get here, one of the longest migration journeys in the world. It’s an incredible 22,000 km (or 14,000 miles), between Africa and Europe.  

And they’re perfectly designed for long journeys. They spend most of their lives in the skies. They sleep whilst flying (a type of ‘torpor’), eat small insects and spiders whilst flying, and drink whilst gliding over rivers and lakes, taking small sips. Swifts’ eyes have moveable bristles in front, which they use like sunglasses for reducing glare once they’re flying. 

They only really come to land to nest, and they tend to nest high up in roof spaces, under the eaves of old houses. 

All over the UK, apart from the far north of Scotland! Just look to the skies and listen out for the screaming call. You might have more success seeing them on a sunny day. 

Despite suffering huge declines in recent years, Swifts are fairly easy to see as they often nest in our towns and cities.

Sadly, Swift numbers are plummeting, and they’re now on the UK’s Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern. For every ten Swifts zooming across our skies in 1995, there were only about three by 2022. 

It’s thought that the loss of nest sites in the roofs of buildings may be partly to blame. That’s why we’re asking you to look out for nesting Swifts near you and record them on Swift Mapper. 

Together with our partners Action for Swifts, Natural Apptitude, Swift Conservation and the Swifts Local Network we’ve developed Swift Mapper – a web-based mapping system and mobile app. By recording sightings of nesting Swifts, you’ll help build a picture of where their nest sites need to be protected and where new ones are needed.  

The House Martin is another aerial athlete, flying from north Africa to Europe each spring – though at one point, people believed that House Martins and Swallows hibernated during the winter in the mud at the bottom of ponds.  

As their name suggests, they can often be seen around our towns and villages, as they build nests, that are known as ‘mud cups’, beneath the eaves of houses. 

House Martin pairs often work in tandem to build their nests, using around a thousand pellets of mud each time. They can also be found in muddy puddles, collecting nesting materials. They often nest in colonies, building nests side by side. 

They mate in their nests, but unlike some birds, they’re not particularly faithful partners. As many as 75% of nests contain chicks that have been fathered by another male House Martin. 

All over the UK, especially in urban areas. They tend to be more active in the morning and evening. 

Moderate. Declines mean that they are now less common in the UK.

House Martins have declined in recent years and are now on the UK Red List of Conservation Concern.

“One Swallow doesn’t make a summer” said Aesop, but they’re a sure sign that summer is on the way – and for a long time, seeing the first Swallow of the year was a good omen. 

They’re often confused with Swifts, but it’s quite easy to tell them apart. The key is in their tail. They also have a cream underside, but the easiest way to spot them is by their red throat. 

Whilst Swifts have a fairly short tail, Swallows have a long, forked tail, with thin streamers. And the more symmetrical a male Swallows’ tail, the more attractive they are to a female, as that’s a sign that the bird is of a higher quality. 

They also have a much more darting flight than Swifts who tend to fly much more smoothly. You might see Swallows over rivers, searching out their next insect meal. 

Swallows rarely venture into towns. You’re more likely to see them in open countryside or around rivers, looking for insects. 

Easy 

They’re on the UK Green List. Swallows are widespread around the Northern Hemisphere. 

Sand Martins are one of the earliest migrants to arrive. You might have seen them as early as March! 

They’re the smallest European hirundine (that’s the collective word for martins and swallows) and you might see them perching on wires, sometimes with Swallows. 

They don’t make nests, preferring to dig burrows. They usually dig their nest holes in banks of earth in sand or soft earth. These can be by rivers, lakes, or the seashore, but sometimes they opt for areas like quarries, too. The burrows can be up to a metre in length, to protect them from predators. They’ll return to the same nest site year after year, building new tunnels if they need to. 

Sand Martins are sociable birds and like company. That’s why they prefer to nest together in summer, and in winter, and will roost in large numbers in autumn. 

Look out for them over farmland and lakes, river, and man-made gravel pits. You’re unlikely to see them in urban areas, woods, or mountains. 

Medium 

They’re on the UK Green List of Conservation Concern. 

Ospreys are the UK’s only fish-eating bird of prey, and that means you might see them diving headfirst into a lake after some fish prey. 

They’re ideally suited to hunting for fish. They have a special extra eyelid – a bit like a contact lens – that helps to protect their eyes when they hunt under water. The bottoms of the toes are also covered in small projections, called ‘spicules,’ which cover them. This means they’re more adapted to gripping on to slippery fish.  

Ospreys become locally extinct as a breeding bird in the UK by the early 20th century. However, in 1954, two breeding Ospreys from Scandinavia nested by Loch Garten in Abernethy Forest, and Ospreys have nested there ever since (apart from a short hiatus between 2016 and 2019). 

Due to a popular nest cam, they can now claim to be the most famous Ospreys in the UK. 

By lochs and lakes in Scotland, Wales and England. 

Hard. To have a better chance of seeing one, head to a recognised Osprey nest site such as RSPB Loch Garten.

They’re on the UK Amber List due to historical illegal killing, and the fact that breeding numbers are low. 

“Cuck-oo!” – most people can recognise a Cuckoo’s call, as it just spells out their name. But it’s only the males that make the ‘cuckoo’ sound. Female cuckoos make a more ‘bubbling’ sound. 

Cuckoos are most famous for being as ‘brood parasites.’ That means that they don’t build their own nests, but the female Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests. Meadow Pipit nests are particularly favoured! Over a season, the female Cuckoo will lay between 12 and 22 eggs, and all in different nests, though interestingly, they tend to opt for the nests of the same species that reared them. 

Once the female finds a suitable nest, she removes one of the unwitting host’s eggs, and lays hers in its place. Cuckoos hatch quickly – after just 12 days – and soon take over, taking all the food brought by the host bird. By the time the Cuckoo leaves the nest, they’re larger than the host bird. 

All over the UK in summer, excluding some areas of Scotland. 

Medium. Sometimes they get confused with Sparrowhawks, as they both have striped plumage on their undersides. 

Recent population declines mean that Cuckoos are on UK Red List. 

We hope you feel inspired to try and see some of these birds this month. We’d love to hear how you get on. You can send your photos to us at [email protected] We’ll share some of the best in a future issue of Notes on Nature. 

Please be mindful when taking photos not to disturb wildlife or habitats. Further guidance can be found in The Nature Photographer's Code of Practice.