RSPB urges swift action to help endangered birds

RSPB Scotland is calling on homeowners and businesses to take steps to help save swifts, whose numbers have plummeted by more than half in Scotland in just 20 years.

In just a few months, swifts will be making their 6,000-mile journey here from Africa to bring up their chicks. But, for many, the chance to lay their eggs will be thwarted as our buildings are changing and their former homes under the eaves are gone.

These birds are now vanishing from our summer skies, with more than half gone from Scotland in two decades.

Swifts spend most of their lives on the wing and only land when it is time to nest. After flying its nest for the first time, a young swift may spend two or three years in the air, eating, drinking, sleeping, bathing and even mating.

The swifts that nest in Scotland arrive here in late April or early May and spend just three months with us, soaring and swooping over rooftops catching insects to eat.

Modern buildings lack the nooks and crannies they need, and swifts are struggling to find homes. There are special swift nest boxes available, and if home owners are having a building constructed or renovated, there’s also the option of the ‘swift brick’. This replaces a standard house brick and can easily be installed by a builder. Swift nest boxes and swift bricks can work especially well when put up in groups, as these birds like to be near other swifts.

Find out more at www.rspb.org.uk/ homes-for-swifts