Swifts and Us - Sarah Gibson - William Collins - An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers

     Recently I was corresponding with Hilary Melton-Butcher about something else entirely when I mentioned that I was reading a book on swifts by a female English author. Not surprisingly Hilary knew of a recent publication about these birds and asked if the book was Swifts and Us by Sarah Gibson. As soon as she received my reply in the affirmative she asked me if I would review it. I am happy to oblige.

     It is an impassioned account of one woman's fascination with, and dedication to, swifts, especially the familiar Common Swift (Apus apus) that breeds throughout much of the Palearctic, the joy that its arrival in spring brings, the despair at its plight as it faces obstacles in Africa where it spends most of its life, and the loss of breeding opportunities in Europe.       Swifts have become almost entirely dependent on human structures for nesting sites and holes that may have served them well, sometimes for centuries, are being closed off in the interests of efficiency as old buildings are renovated. Public indifference, ignorance, and the willingness by developers to flout the law, all contribute to declining breeding opportunities for swifts.

     All is not lost, however, as swift aficionados throughout Europe build nesting boxes and advocate for changes to building codes to permit their installation, even succeeding at times in having new structures include special bricks designed to facilitate nesting for swifts. As Gibson points out, when people of conscience band together to protect swifts, other species benefit and nature writ large is enhanced and protected.

     She embarks on an odyssey to visit swift champions in other countries and finds it uplifting that there are people of goodwill everywhere who are willing to stand up for what is right. In the process it is sometimes possible to galvanize entire communities to support conservation efforts and to apply appropriate pressure to elected officials. Nesting colonies of swifts can even be turned into tourist attractions with the right planning. 

      Not only Common Swifts are in peril, the populations of all other species are declining precipitously. In Canada, having spent countless hours monitoring Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) and watching their numbers decline year after year, I know the sinking feeling this brings only too well. I also understand Gibson's joy in finding kindred spirits who share the responsibility to make sure that swifts in all their screaming glory will always be with us.

     There is an interesting selection of coloured photographs and many black-and-white illustrations throughout the book. Sadly, most of the black-and-white pictures are so dark it is impossible to glean much detail.

     One does not wish to be alarmist and disheartened, but it is hard not to be when faced with the environmental destruction going on all around us, and the changes wrought to the environment, where catastrophic floods and fires are becoming seasonal norms. 

     Gibson encapsulates it well when she says, "Nature has been banished to the margins of our lives, excluded from ever greater areas of the world........We have reached a tipping point and the need for action is palpably urgent." Yet as she also enunciates we display a mystifying willingness to elect politicians like the president of Brazil who endorses and encourages the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

     This book is an important addition to the literature on swifts, written for the layman without reams of technical jargon, graphs and statistics, yet forcibly delivering its message. For those of us who have spent their lives committed to nature, we recognize in Sarah Gibson a kindred spirit.

     I recommend her book highly. 

Swifts and Us - William Collins, An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers

Sarah Gibson

Softcover - ISBN 9780008350666

328 pages - colour and black-and-white illustrations 

5 x 7.75 inches (12.5 x 19.375 cm)

Published 2021