Where Have All The Swallows Gone?

Zorya

I just read an article about millions and millions of swallows being killed by mist netting in Egypt and North Africa. 140 million in one year in Egypt alone! For food!It is horrifying to think about.

We always have loads of swallows here, and I like them a lot. They are joyful little things and they eat vast quantities of midges, which is a huge boon. I don't mind the mess they make under their nests, it can be just cleaned up and composted. There are a handful flitting around now outside the kitchen window but compared to other years we have so very few. Much less than usual. Most of the old nests, which they often repair, are still in ruins, there is no sign of new nest building.

Does anyone notice fewer swallows so far this year? They are supposed to arrive mid-April and should be breeding by now.

This is really horrible to read. It has changed since mist netting is so cheap.

The simple truth is that our migrating birds are being 'harvested' in huge numbers as they fly south in the autumn and north in the spring, and many of our conservation charities have not yet caught up with the horrific consequences.

Trapped in cheap Chinese mist nets slung between tall poles, millions of our summer visitors are being caught, sold and eaten.

Accurate figures are hard to find, but up to 140 million birds a year are being slaughtered as they pass through just one country: Egypt.

A investigation by German TV estimated that mist nests are erected along 700 kilometres of the Egyptian coast and in the Nile Valley, capturing a range of birds from the stunning golden oriole to the tiny but beautiful willow warbler.

There is similar bloodshed in Lebanon, Morocco and in most of the North African countries. Of course, people the world over catch and hunt birds, animals and even insects. Since the time of the pharaohs, migrating birds in north Africa have been caught and eaten using primitive traps and quick-lime – a sticky substance smeared on vegetation and buildings to hold down any birds attempting to perch and rest.

But things today are very different. Bird-catching has gone beyond a sustainable level and is carried out instead on an almost industrial scale, thanks largely to the fine-meshed, readily available and astonishingly cheap plastic netting manufactured in China.

Trapping birds has become like fishing in the air rather than in the sea.

Even if the swallows and swifts do manage to avoid the nets, they are also shot at. Then, if they pause to rest in any oasis they pass, there is the danger of the quick-lime.Shrikes, warblers, cuckoos, flycatchers and wheatears are all vulnerable. Some are not even killed straight away; they have their wings broken and are taken alive to traders, who slit their throats to satisfy halal tradition. Then they are sold for the equivalent of a few pence.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6993621/Where-swallows-gone.html

From a conservation site...

Methods, Scale and Legal Status of Bird Trapping

In 2012, several local and international media outlets published articles documenting an apparent increase in potentially unsustainable trapping practices along Egypt's Mediterranean coast; evidence emerged that such practices extended along around 700 kilometres of Egypt’s Mediterranean coastline (approx. three quarters of the coast) and the far eastern part of the Libyan coast with up to three rows of fine-mesh trapping nets set contiguously. These nets are very difficult for many migrants to avoid as they form a barrier across their flight path.

Many species tend to fly low at the trapping sites due to having crossed either the Mediterranean Sea (in autumn) or the Sahara (in spring), while looking for a place to rest. Although there have been a variety of estimates as to the number of birds caught in these nets, no scientific research has been conducted during the last decade to assess the actual scale of trapped birds.

Additional illegal traps are also used; including the munsaab, a trap composed of grass or sticks in a tent like structure to catch ground-dwelling birds seeking shelter (quail, larks, wheatears, corncrakes etc.), and eb nets where trees and scrub are covered in large mist nets to catch perching species. Other trapping methods include the use of lime, a sticky substance smeared on small branches that are attached as prominent perches to bushes and shrubs. The lime adheres to the feathers of passerines and prevents them flying away. Falcons are trapped for trade using live bird lures and hunting with guns has become more prevalent in recent years.

Different species of birds are hunted in Libya, either by trapping, such as Quail, Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus), doves, falcons for falconry and trade, shooting ducks, medium-sized waders, Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) and herons or by falconry for Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata).

Hunting regulations are considered out of date and not enforced. Moreover, guns and traps are sold without license and a notable increase in unregulated shooting has been recorded since the political uprising in 2011.

The scale and indiscriminate methods used in today’s hunting activities, particularly in the context of wider threats, such as extensive habitat destruction and climate change, is considered potentially unsustainable and could, in fact, already be affecting many African-Eurasian migrants at the population level. A comprehensive and regular monitoring programme is required to assess and disseminate data on the scale of trapping along the Mediterranean coasts of Egypt and Libya.

While certain forms of bird trapping are already illegal in Egypt and there are statutory requirements in place to regulate mist netting (such as minimum distances between nets and maximum stipulated heights), the enforcement of such regulations has become an increasingly difficult task due to regional instability, supplemented by the lack of capacity for law enforcement and awareness of the potential impacts.

https://www.cms.int/en/page/bird-trapping-egypt-and-libya

marlin vs

That is truly shocking.

Zorya

marlin vs wrote: »

That is truly shocking.

It is!

Sheep breeder

Learned something today, at home we have just two swallows arrived individually back to the cattle shed and no house martins at all and normally have 6 nests in operation. The cuckoo only arrived last week.

Zorya

Sheep breeder wrote: »

Learned something today, at home we have just two swallows arrived individually back to the cattle shed and no house martins at all and normally have 6 nests in operation. The cuckoo only arrived last week.

Yes, we have one nest operational, we usually have upwards of 10. Maybe they will come later. I have seen reports from south UK that they are straggling in late...I don't know.

mossie

Same here. I've seen only a few so far this year, certainly much lower than previous years.

Doctors room ghost

I love watching swallows and listening to the cuckoo.
Aren’t they badly off to be trapping them.there can’t be much eating on them anyway.
Won’t be long and every species will be struggling

Zorya

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

I love watching swallows and listening to the cuckoo.
Aren’t they badly off to be trapping them.there can’t be much eating on them anyway.
Won’t be long and every species will be struggling

Exactly. Could there be much more than a mouthful or two on each bird? Blech. Horrible thing to do for a mouthful.

BorneTobyWilde

Never showed up for me either, first time ever that the Swallows never arrived.

Zorya

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Never showed up for me either, first time ever that the Swallows never arrived.

They have started to increase in number here, 2 nests maybe. About one quarter or one fifth of normal May population. I love them, they are such cheeky little birds. I heard that before they leave they map the fields by flowing low over them so they can remember the terrain? Anyone know if that's true?

topnotch

There are rakes of them down here in Cork anyway this year. Can’t open the door of the tool shed for 5 mins but they have to go in for a look. :pac:

Zorya

topnotch wrote: »

There are rakes of them down here in Cork anyway this year. Can’t open the door of the tool shed for 5 mins but they have to go in for a look. :pac:

Good to hear

Pretzill

Just two pairs around our sheds and they're busy building but none came back to the coal shed which has been a family favourite spot for almost 20 years - (a feral cat attack last year) It does seem quieter than other years, that's horrible to hear about the mist netting They are such amazing birds.

ZX7R

Plenty of them around my part of Kildare

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

And the usual numbers for this time of year here, Louth.

China yet again playing a central role in the destruction of wildlife. They are already responsible for the ivory trade with their desire for silly little trinkets.

Zorya

Jeffery Fit Sticker wrote: »

And the usual numbers for this time of year here, Louth.

That's good. Maybe they are just late. Here are some people making reports from the UK.
http://barnswallow.co.za/news/barn-swallow-news-2019/

finla

Just saw the first swallows of the year today. South East. Not very many yet, maybe more will follow.

Del.Monte

finla wrote: »

Just saw the first swallows of the year today. South East. Not very many yet, maybe more will follow.

They are in County Wexford a while now along with Martins and Swifts but seem to be far fewer than usual.

Half-cocked

We've had some quite cold winds over the last month or so. Which might delay the swallows etc from coming - less food availability. My moth records are down for this time of year which may indicate less insect life in general.

Seth Brundle

Saw about 4 or 5 shifts circling high up above me in Leixlip earlier as I was gardening. Also heard a House Martin but didnt get to see it. Been keeping an eye and ear out for them again but nothing
Swift are usually here by the 4th to 6th of May each year so they are about a week late. Better late than never I guess!