Swift Awareness Week (1-9 July 2023) gives us the opportunity to celebrate Swifts and the people and initiatives involved in helping this much-loved summer visitor. The RSPB’s Laurinda Luffman and Guy Anderson take up the story.
Swifts are with us for just a few short months – late April to early August. But in that time they make quite an impression, their crescent-shaped silhouettes and joyful screaming calls bringing our summer skies to life.
Swifts are now on the red list of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK. Their numbers fell by 62% between 1995 and 2021. The reasons behind their decline are not yet fully understood but loss of suitable nesting sites can certainly be an issue in some areas. Swifts nest in small gaps high up on buildings and when buildings are renovated or demolished, Swift nests are lost.
This much-loved summer visitor sparks passion and joy in so many people. And there are many individuals and groups working hard across the country to help protect Swift nesting sites and provide new nesting opportunities. In fact, Swifts are one of the best examples of a bird species where positive conservation action can be driven by dedicated individuals and volunteers.
Swifts visit the UK between late April and early August. © Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com).
What is Swift Awareness Week? This annual event is organised by the Swift Local Network, which brings together groups of volunteers from across the UK, all committed to making a difference for Swifts in their local areas. Swift Awareness Week provides an opportunity to showcase the work of these groups and promote Swifts more broadly, at a time when the birds are a feature of our skies.
Events taking place during the week include evening guided Swift walks, talks, displays or stalls in libraries/marketplaces or even parades, as well as involving Swift volunteers circulating leaflets or writing articles in local papers and community magazines.
This year, more than 70 events are taking place. A list of what’s happening and where can be found here:SAW 2023 events – Google Docs
Swift conservation in actionThere are many and varied ways in which Swifts can be helped. Here are just a few examples of how RSPB and partners are contributing towards Swift conservation.
Feather Speech CampaignIt’s rather fitting that at the end of Swift Awareness Week, there will be a parliamentary debate on 10 July in Westminster Hall, where MPs will be discussing whether Swift bricks (also known as integral nesting sites, self-contained nesting sites that are built into the fabric of buildings) should be made compulsory in new build house developments.
This MP debate has come about thanks to all the people (nearly 110,000) who signed the petition to Make swift bricks compulsory in new housing to help red-listed birds following Hannah Bourne-Taylor’s campaign and Feather Speech in London, which was supported by the RSPB and many of our members. Thank you!
Internal Swift bricks are such an easy and cheap way to provide nest sites and can be designed into buildings without conflicting with insulation or other structural requirements. And when Swift bricks are included in new housing developments or retrofitted into existing buildings, evidence shows they are beneficial not only for Swifts, but other wildlife, including red-listed species such as House Sparrows, Starlings and House Martins.
Articles in industry publications and a new British Standard for integral bird boxes/bricks are designed to raise awareness of the benefits of Swift bricks to industry, planners and ecologists who are critical to helping to increase the number of Swift nesting opportunities. Groups dedicated to helping Swifts locally are another means of promoting nesting bricks in new buildings.
The debate in parliament on 10 July will be a key opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of Swift nesting sites at a time when Swifts need help.
Swift bricks provide Swifts with suitable nesting sites in new buildings, like here at Barratt Developments PLC Kingsbrook development near Aylesbury. © John Day (rspb-images.com).
Partnership powerWe’re working with partners to boost the number of new nesting sites available to Swifts. For example, we’re working with housing developer Barratt Developments PLC who have now installed nearly 5,000 internal nest boxes in new build developments. We’re also working with landscape maintenance contractor, idverde, and as part of this partnership, Swift nesting sites have been installed in buildings in Manchester, Liverpool and the Midlands where we’re also helping to install Swift nest boxes in churches – discover more in this YouTube video:
Increasing our understanding of SwiftsThere’s still much we need to learn about Swifts including, for example, what increases the rate at which new Swift nesting sites are used by Swifts.
To help us understand more about Swifts we’re pursuing several avenues of research. We also continue to encourage everyone to report their sightings of nesting Swifts to Swift Mapper – a dedicated online mapping tool that is helping us to understand more about where Swifts are nesting (keep reading to learn more about how to get involved). Recording both the presence and absence of breeding Swifts in new nest sites, including boxes and bricks will help us to build up a dataset which can be used to start answering some of these questions. So far, Swift Mapper has received over 80,000 records and we look forward to seeing records continue to fly in.
Supporting community actionCommunity-based Swift conservation projects are proving that we can all make a difference for Swifts. Just a few examples include: ‘Swift Streets’ (hotspots for Swifts where nesting sites are being provided) being established in Lancaster and Manchester; RSPB Chester Local Group working with their local council to install 20 Swift bricks in a new shopping and leisure complex in the city; and RSPB Bromley Local Group running a Swift Champion scheme with someone in each borough intervening to ensure Swifts are considered in planning decisions.
We now have a Swift ‘starter pack’ available to RSPB Local Groups and other community organisations, giving guidance on how to help Swifts. It’s inspiring to see groups doing so much for Swifts and we hope that the pack will support them and encourage others to get involved. Visit https://tinyurl.com/SwiftPack to download ‘Your guide to helping Swifts’.
How can you help Swifts?Here are four suggestions on how you can get involved in helping Swifts:
1. Take part in a Swift Awareness Week event. For example, in Oxford, ‘Oxford Swifts’ will be running a stall at the Oxford Museum of Natural History. Take a look here to see what’s on near you: SAW 2023 events – Google Docs.
2. Record nesting Swifts. Download the Swift Mapper app or visit the Swift Mapper website and record your sightings of nesting Swifts.
3. Install a nesting site for Swifts. You can fit external Swift boxes to existing buildings (boxes are available from the RSPB Shop), or if you’re doing renovation work or creating a new building you could install an internal nest box – see this guidance on internal Swift nesting sites (also known as Swift bricks) on the Action for Swifts website.
4. Join a local group involved in Swift conservation. There are groups in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – all dedicated to helping Swifts. To find your nearest group, visit the Action for Swifts website.
Swifts will continue to grace our skies for a few more weeks before they start to head south – get out and enjoy this summer spectacle. Thank you to everyone involved in helping this special summer visitor.
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