Do you ever watch the swifts swirling and screaming above our houses? They always look like they are loving every moment and it’s wonderful to watch them, such fantastic aviators of the sky!
Like much of our wildlife, these birds are in trouble as their numbers have dropped by 25% or more in the last 20 years, certainly here in the UK but elsewhere too sadly. They feed on insects and the biodiversity of the UK has become so poor due to the use of insecticides and there is also loss of their habitat. They prefer to nest in older buildings, which these days are either being demolished or converted and the nesting sites are consequently destroyed.
This is why a swift group has been set up in Seaford to monitor them in our area but to also encourage residents to be aware of the swifts and help this species by having nest boxes installed, wherever possible, but more importantly, to protect known nesting sites. This is also a nationwide movement. There are currently (known) approximately 20 – 30 swifts swirling around our skies, nesting in Seaford town houses and surroundings and we hope to ensure this number is retained and increased by making sure there are nesting sites where they can continue to breed.
They are such beautiful amazing birds, sleeping, feeding, even mating on the wing. Every year they travel 10,000 miles back to Europe from Africa where they have overwintered, to return to their birthplace/original nesting site and it must be very confusing if the site has been netted over/destroyed. Swifts prefer to live in a colony so the number of birds in our area would increase if more nesting sites were available, as the fledglings will also return to establish a nest, and eventually have young once they have bonded with a mate.
This is why we would like local housebuilders/developers to ensure they consider these birds when work is planned. This is both in respect of new builds and renovation work. There is a lot of information on a number of websites and advice can be given if needed, by local experts.
The birds are only here from May until August, so any work to increase their habitat needs to be done in the months before late April.
For further information on swifts, and there are a number of websites to choose from, with advice on the wide choice of swift boxes available, design ideas for DIY boxes, and how to help swifts generally, we certainly recommend the following websites:
www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/rspb-news/rspb-news-stories/how-to-help-swifts
Contact Details
Save Seaford’s Swifts is in its infancy and there is a lot of work to do locally, so if you would like further information or wish to get involved, please contact me on info@seafordswifts.org.uk
Many thanks
Sheila Lothian
