Give a helping hand to an under-threat bird

Residents are being encouraged to keep an eye on the sky to help a summer county visitor.

As we reach the heights of summertime, Denbighshire County Council’s Biodiversity Team is urging residents to help check in with the seasonal visits of swifts.

Swifts fly nearly 3400 miles from a winter in Africa to breed in the UK during summer. They pair for life returning to the same site each time.

The birds prefer to nest in homes and churches, using small gaps in the roofs. However, as older buildings are renovated the roof gaps became less and new builds designed differently offered no room, impacting on swift numbers.

Due to the loss of habitat, such as wildflower areas and freshwater, insects that swifts need to feed their young and refuel for their migrations have also reduced.

Our Biodiversity team is working to restore this loss through the management of the Wildflower Meadows Project which has so far created nearly 70 acres of suitable habitat, supporting the regeneration of insect and bird populations.

The team has also introduced over a number of swift boxes to areas in the county to encourage the birds to nest.

However, despite efforts locally and wider the swift is currently on the highest conservation priority level on the Red list in the 2021 UK Conservation resulting in urgent action being needed.

Residents can help swift populations who arrive at Denbighshire survive and thrive by carrying out a simple survey between May and July.

Pick an area near your home that you can safely walk a route of a mile or so. Start looking to the skies around late evening, an hour or so before dusk to catalogue the numbers of swifts and their activity (flying high up, circling or flying fast at roof height and calling loudly, a screaming party).

If you need a helping hand in knowing what to look out for, either join one of our Denbighshire Swift walks or check out this handy guide: 

A family or individual can take part but remember to stay safe while doing it as it gets darker.

All findings can be logged through our Denbighshire Swift survey  All of our records will contribute towards the Swift Recovery project started by North Wales Wildlife Trust/COFNOD.

Biodiversity Officer Evie Challinor explained: “It is so important we do all we can to help this under threat bird survive. Finding out how their populations are doing in the county and where they frequent the most with the help of residents will help us understand better where to direct help for swifts where its needed the most

“If you can spare time to help these amazing birds your support could help stabilise local swift populations.”