Swift SOS is a network of volunteers who can offer specialist care for young swifts.<\/p>\n
The rehabilitation of a grounded fledgling takes two to three weeks, where the birds are rehydrated and fed crickets to bulk up their weight and strength.<\/p>\n
When they weigh 40 grams, they can be launched back into the air.<\/p>\n
“These birds can be helped if they get to the right person,” said Bowd.<\/p>\n
“It’s a really intensive task. You can only feed them on insects, and you have to know when they’re ready to go.”<\/p>\n
The popularity of the social media page is a testament to people’s love of these birds, and Bowd said that the Swift SOS services are as much for those who find them as for the birds themselves.<\/p>\n
“Suddenly you find a bundle of feathers in your hand from the ground, and you don’t know what to do, and you want to do the right thing.”<\/p>\n
Found a grounded swift?<\/p>\n
Do not throw the bird into the air<\/p>\n
Do not feed it<\/p>\n
Put the bird in a secure, ventilated box somewhere warm, dark and quiet<\/p>\n
Offer hydration via a cotton bud<\/p>\n
Do not take the swift to the vet<\/p>\n
Contact Swift SOS as soon as possible<\/p>\n
For many bird lovers, swifts bring summer and hope when they arrive in May each year.<\/p>\n
“There’s just something magical about them,” said Bowd.<\/p>\n
The Chomley Gardens residents agree.<\/p>\n
“It’s astonishing that they will fly from here to Africa – but they just come here for a few short weeks,” said Rod Standing.<\/p>\n
“We love them,” said Juliet Rix. “I’m always so happy when they come back – and a bit sad when they go.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Swift SOS is a network of volunteers who can offer specialist care for young swifts. The rehabilitation of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-716887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}