Estonia enters its swift era as 2026 bird of the year announced | News

The common swift is a bird that spends a significant part of its life in flight: it catches insects, mates, and even sleeps in the air.

Its tiny feet only touch the ground during the nesting period, when it needs to move around in the nest cavity, incubate its eggs and feed its chicks. Due to constantly being in flight, it had at one time been thought that swifts had no legs, a fact in its reflected in its Latin name Apus apus, which means “without legs.”

Although swifts do resemble swallows with their brownish-black plumage and sickle-shaped wings, they are not closely related. The swift’s closest relative in Estonia is the nightjar.

According to Kaare Vähandu, head of the Estonian Ornithological Society, the swift is a common bird in populated areas, although it previously only used to live in forests. However, with the disappearance of forest habitats, more swifts have moved into the cavities of buildings.

“Today, there is a noticeable decline in the number of swifts throughout Europe, primarily due to the loss of suitable nesting sites: during the renovation of buildings, cracks and cavities are filled in and modern buildings are most often smooth, closed ‘boxes’. The number of swifts has also been affected by the excessive use of agricultural pesticides, which reduces the number of insects – the birds’ main food source,” explained Vähandu.

During the Year of the Swift, anyone who is interested can participate in a range of educational excursions and drawing competitions, as well as in the collecting of data about the bird’s nesting habits or the production of photographic materials. Seminars are also planned, during which experts will discuss how the construction and renovation of apartment buildings has an impact on swifts.

The Estonian Ornithological Society has been selecting the bird of the year annually since 1995, with the swift becoming the 32nd bird to be chosen.

The aim of choosing a bird of the year is to introduce the public to one of the species or groups of species of birds living in Estonia, as well as to involve nature lovers in the study and protection of the selected species. In 2025, the cormorant was chosen as Estonia’s bird of the year.

Estonia also selects an animal of the year, tree of the year and plant of the year.

In 2026, they are the hedgehog, the European aspen and the bird’s nest orchid, respectively. At the suggestion of scientists from the Estonian University of Life Sciences, the forest insect of the year was announced for the first time – the saperda carcharias, which is a species of longhorn beetle.

The 2026 fish of the year, which is selected by Kalastaja magazine, has not yet been determined.

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