Community working to protect endangered swifts

A community group in Clevedon is doing its bit to help endangered swifts

A community group is installing nesting boxes to help protect an endangered species of bird.

Clevedon Swifts, based in Somerset, is made up of members of the community that want to save swifts from further population decline.

They are calling for more boxes to be added to houses and buildings to replace lost natural nesting areas.

Group member, Helen Wood, said: "Clevedon is a very important place for swifts – there’s lots of Victorian buildings where swifts were nesting."

"I’d watch them every year come and I just found them absolutely fascinating," she said.

"The more I learned about them, the more I learned about their decline."

In 2021, swifts were placed on the UK's Red List by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), meaning they are in "critical decline".

Swifts, which fly to the UK from Africa in the spring to breed, have declined in number by more than 50% over two decades.

Clevedon Swifts said that the birds like to nest in cavities in old houses but, with a rise in modern buildings being built and people renovating their homes, they have fewer places to nest.

Ms Wood said: “Swift boxes and bricks are a very simple way of replacing their nest space when they’re losing so many.”

Helen Wood, member of the Clevedon Swifts, said swift boxes and bricks are a simple way of replacing nests

Member of Clevedon Swifts, Grace Hewson, who has four swift boxes installed, said she had seen a "huge decline" in numbers.

"It's scary," she said. "I used to see them up the road regularly and that was a colony of 20 or so - there's been none since a new roof went up 10 years ago.

"I just love the sound of them coming through Clevedon in May and bringing summer here.

"I want to do anything I can to keep them going."

Grace Hewson has installed swift boxes on her house in Clevedon

Member of Clevedon Men's Shed, Martin Parsons, is part of the team making the boxes.

He said: "I had to do a lot of research - the entrance of the box has to be a certain size. If you make it too small the swift can't get in, but too big other birds can get in.

"They like it dark so the inside is also painted," he added.

"These birds are fantastic," he said. "They sleep on the wing, go all the way down to South Africa without landing and return to Clevedon.

"They deserve a nice home."