Conservation Matters
- Peter Valentine
- Oct 1
- 7 min read
Peter Valentine | Conservation Officer
Concerns for Australia’s migratory Swifts
Now is the time! Our migratory Swifts are heading south towards us from their northern breeding locations, and we should very soon be seeing huge flocks in the skies over the Wet Tropics. In many years it is a birder in northern Queensland (Qld) who sees the first swift of the season, and who reports the often huge aggregations of swifts. Are you ready to go swift hunting?
Like many birders I have participated in observations of our two main species of migratory Swifts, the White-throated Needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus) and the Pacific (aka Fork-tailed) Swift (Apus pacificus).
For many years the observations of citizen scientists and birders have been compiled by Michael Tarburton, who would generously produce annual reports on each species, and occasionally write updates and other information summaries. This year Michael announced that he is no longer going to compile the data as the evidence he was seeking is now clear: both species are in serious decline.
While the data Michael compiled applied to those swifts in Australia, it is also known that for both species a large proportion migrates to Australia for summer. What is happening to our swifts is a result of the global situation as well as local, but it applies to much of the global population.
Both species arrive in Australia from their northern hemisphere breeding grounds to spend our summer (from September / October through to March / April perhaps) as non-breeding residents, with the Needletails remaining in Eastern Australia, while the Pacific Swifts are recorded across the Australian continent.
One fascinating element here is that the flocks arriving from the north seem to fly in at lower altitudes, presumably to commence feeding upon arrival over Australia, whereas on leaving they appear to fly at very high altitude, usually out of sight unless viewed with binoculars or scopes (Tarburton 2009). This appears to be supported by very few sightings of departing birds recorded in northern Australia versus southern Australia (even allowing for reduced numbers of observers).
While in Australia, both species use their aeronautically-shaped bodies to engage in rapid feeding flights (always aerial, and from low altitudes to high). These are sometimes in very small groups of a few to 50 or so, but at other times in massive flocks numbering in the thousands.
It has long been noted that swifts make use of summer storms and uplift associated with monsoon weather in the north, and thunderstorms and fronts in the south, to take advantage of insects and other prey that have been lifted high in the atmosphere. This uplift may extend from ground level to a few thousand metres above ground. Such storms often result in observable flocks, sometimes with both species hunting together.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, in both recent assessments in 2024, neither species is considered Threatened, and the global conservation status of each is Least Concern. This decision is based on the extremely large area of occupation (very similar for both species) which broadly goes from India to Siberia and south to Australia. It is also based on the apparent lack of evidence of any threats and the high population numbers believed to exist (no estimates have been determined, but rough figures from various sites across the world show a big range).
However, despite lack of any mention in the IUCN Red List, a number of known threats have been recorded. In the breeding areas, significant legal and illegal logging has removed many roosting trees and nesting trees (with hollows), especially in Siberia, but also elsewhere. Local actions for other reasons sometimes also destroy tree hollows (such as Japanese Governments cementing up tree hollows to prevent such trees falling over in storms). In recent years conservation groups have been constructing artificial nest boxes with some success (for example, in Hokkaido, Japan).
Tarburton in 2014 showed that White-throated Needletails recorded in Australia have been in decline every decade since 1950. He also noted that BirdLife Australia considered that the Australian subspecies is eligible for listing as Vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) 1999, based on the 30% decline reported by Tarburton (2021). Neither of these items was mentioned in the IUCN report.
Of rising concern is the mortality in Australia of White-throated Needletails by wind turbines, notably from the records of deaths at two windfarms in Tasmania, and subsequently by deaths at the Woodlawn Windfarm in southern New South Wales (NSW). Unfortunately there are few reported records from turbines to date and the sampling design seems flawed in the case of swifts.
What is of grave concern is the lack of serious attention to the prospects of massive mortality if the proposed turbine arrays in Qld are constructed.
In the photo above, you can see about 100 wind towers in Stage 1 of the project owned by Squadron Energy (Andrew Forrrest). You will notice all the ridge lines cleared and flattened for transportation of heavy and wide loads of wind turbine components to the heights of the high ridge lines: to enable the turbines to capture any prevailing winds.
The photo above shows removal of what was once heavily vegetated remnant forest along the ridge lines of the Clarke Connors Range (central Qld) for 46 wind towers. 101 koalas and 138 Greater Gliders were found within the project area. This photo was taken at the Lotus Creek wind tower development where 577 ha of high elevation refugia forests are being sacrificed in the name of green energy.
In January 2012, Len Ezzy and others from BirdLife Townsville (including myself) attempted to count a huge aggregation of Pacific (aka Fork-tailed) Swifts on the flanks of Mt Elliot near Townsville, north Qld. Using geometry and many photos on an 8 km stretch of the Bruce Highway, the flock of Swifts from almost ground level to >500 metres elevation, was estimated to number 215,000 (Ezzy, pers. comm.). This would presumably represent a large proportion of the total world population, although there is no estimate of that number in the literature, and IUCN does not address that question (the global population). There are many Australian records of large flocks estimated to be in the thousands, and I suspect many Qld birders will have seen dense flocks over a large altitudinal distance in early storms.
The concerns now of many are the correlation between the location of Qld industrial turbine fields along our high country in the path of the south-east-trade winds, and the monsoon and summer storm turbulence and uplift locations. Given the poor capacity to monitor or even look for swifts by turbine owners, there could be a massive death before any action is taken.
The fact that swifts fly in the dark skies of predawn and night places them at even greater risk – a very limited chance of seeing the great sweeping blades let alone avoiding them.
The photos above and below show native fauna victims found at just a single visit to the Kaban Wind Turbine operation in northern Qld: a migratory Pacific Swift, Northern Free-tailed Bat, and White-striped Free-tailed Bat. Every visit to the site reveals similar mortalities.
These migratory Swifts are protected under various international agreements Australia has signed, and the Federal Government has a responsibility to protect them.
Recent inspections by conservationists of just two turbines at Kaban, have found dead White-throated Needletails, confirming their vulnerability: but this is just a tiny sample and not part of officially sanctioned carcase surveys. In the most recent compliance report at Kaban, it is recorded that one White-throated Needletail and two Pacific Swifts were killed in one survey period in 2023. In the Risk Assessment the report glibly dismisses concerns as insignificant due to the species’ claimed vagility and dispersiveness. It is very clear that swifts do occur in large flocks so they are not necessarily dispersive.
Despite objections from many conservation groups to this totally inappropriate location, and the generally very poor planning for these novel developments, the National Government seems too timid to place stronger conditions; better triggers for cessation; better design requirements and triggers; and seems unwilling to disapprove the sites. I for one hope it does not take a massive slaughter to challenge these ridgetop turbines.
The good news is that there are very many alternative locations, and there are now much better designs than those currently used and proposed. The fact that these industrial turbine fields all exclude public access means that little confidence can be placed on reported death rates. That, and the quite inadequate number and non-targeted timing of the carcase surveys, ensures a significant under-representation of swift deaths. Despite that, some are already recorded. These are matters needing serious consideration by the National Government.
This article is not an attack on renewable energy sources. I am not interested in the false dichotomy between coal and renewables. The false claim that “it’s either renewables or coal and therefore every renewable deserves a green light”, sometimes argued by some conservation groups, is an excuse for laziness.
That view abandons decades of hard fought environmental battles to ensure all development meets standards for environmental protection.
The notion that we can abandon those gains in favour of “climate change is far too big an issue to quibble over a few losses” is not one that I support.
In the end, our battle for climate change action is about protecting nature, not destroying it. The problem with Queensland industrial turbines is the laziness of Government in not carefully appraising where these huge turbines might be well-placed and where they should never be placed. This is work still to be done but massively overdue.
References
Tarburton M (2009). Why are White-throated Needletails and Fork-tailed Swifts Often Last Observed in Southern Australia when Migrating Northwards? Australian Field Ornithology 26:19-24.
Tarburton MK (2014). Status of the White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus in Australia: evidence for a marked decline. Australian Field Ornithology 31:122-140.
Tarburton MK (2021). Recent increase in knowledge about numbers and flight behaviour in the White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus. Australian Field Ornithology 38:124-130.
