The Guardian view on swallows and swifts: nature's messengers | Editorial

Migrant birds carry information around the globe. When their arrival is delayed, we should worry Swifts are back in UK skies, putting an end to the annual hiatus when nature seems to hold its breath, awaiting successive waves of migrant birds whose twittering is the soundscape of summer. But these are worrying times. The swift has joined that traditional herald of summer, the cuckoo, on the RSPB's latest red list of endangered species, following a 58% fall in their numbers since 1995. Billions o...