Swifts nest in buildings in our towns and villages. They are urban birds and we want to help them by conserving existing nest sites as well as creating new ones. Each year we have scores of Swift records telling us how many, where and when, but this does not give us exact details of which buildings they are using. These records have either one-km or tetrad grid references which is too large an area for us to take action to ensure their nest sites are conserved. If possible please –

If you find a party of Swifts screaming around your town or village please create a record of this and include in the Notes section of your record (BirdTrack, Record Capture or whatever recording system you are using) the address where you have seen them using. Thus a note could read “about 12 birds chasing each other and screaming round the High Street in the evening. Such a record will then give us a chance to narrow down where to look for their nests. If you can find out which property they are nesting in you could add a note to your record such as “nesting under the eaves at the front of 36 High Street, (town name)”.

We are in the process of beefing up our activities to conserve Swifts in Sussex. A really big push by everyone over these summer months to include in the Notes section of your Record the addresses where you see parties of Swifts screaming around at roof top height which will denote that they are nesting nearby. This will provide us with a really good foundation for future Swift Conservation efforts.