Our baby birds come in all shapes, sizes and colours. What most people don’t know is that they all have different personalities too.

Some are quiet and gentle, others noisy and demanding. Birds of the same species often have the same traits, but within a clutch there are differences.

Most of the garden birds have finished breeding now, but swallows, house martins and swifts have chicks in nests and may well lay more eggs for a later brood.

Swifts usually come into care after building work has disturbed the nest, but occasionally chicks fall from nests, especially if the weather has been hot.

We have two swifts in care at present. They came separately, but they snuggle together in a nest as if they are siblings.

Swifts have very large mouths and their parents bring in a ball of insects caught in the air. A mixture of insects is important, providing a variety of vitamins and other essentials.

We feed our swifts on mealworms, waxworm larvae and occasional bits of mince.

Luckily we can access this food whatever the weather, but in the wild adults can find it more challenging especially if the weather is cold and wet.

There are reports of swifts flying to Germany to forage for insects to feed chicks in their nests in Britain. This seems impossible to us, but swifts are designed for spending their life in the air.

Most swifts rarely land after they leave the nest, and then only in the breeding season.