Help! I’ve found fallen swift or swift chick on the ground!

Please refer to our emergency contacts page here.

I think an existing nest site is under threat due to building work or other reasons.

If you believe an existing nest site is under threat (at any time of year), please email us ASAP with as much detail as you can provide. We will treat all reports anonymously.

Is my house suitable for a swift nest box?

Please refer to our advice page here.

I don’t live in the Sheffield S6 postcode area but would like advice.

We’re a small voluntary group and prioritise our service to the S6 postcode area in order to make things manageable for us. You are welcome to contact us for advice and we will respond after any local enquiries, or refer you to a swift group that covers your area. Please refer to the question: Are there any other local swift groups in Sheffield? for details of other swift groups in Sheffield.

Where can I report swift sightings and nest sites?

Swift Mapper is a conservation mapping tool – easy and free to use. Anyone can submit records of breeding swifts, building a picture of where they are nesting around the UK. This enables local conservation action for swifts to be focussed in the right places. All records will be available to anyone interested in swifts and their conservation; local authority planners, architects, ecologists, developers, conservation groups and individuals who want to help their local swifts. Mapping breeding swifts helps determine where active nest sites need to be protected, and where new nesting opportunities for swifts would be best provided – the closer new potential nest sites are to existing swift colonies, the greater the chance they will be occupied. In this way, we hope that your records will play an important role in helping to reverse the decline of this charismatic migrant bird.

What records does Swift Mapper collect?

Swift Mapper is a conservation mapping tool. Anyone can submit records of breeding swifts, building a picture of where they are nesting around the UK. This enables local conservation action for swifts to be focussed in the right places. All records will be available to anyone interested in swifts and their conservation; local authority planners, architects, ecologists, developers, conservation groups and individuals who want to help their local swifts.

Swift Mapper records where swifts are nesting. It collects four different types of record:

1. Occupied Nest: where swifts are observed using a nest site cavity.
2. Previously Occupied: where swifts were known to nest previously, but no longer do so.
3. Nest Box: nesting sites deliberately provided for swifts – nest boxes, nest bricks, etc. Whether occupied yet or not.
4. Screaming Party: records of swifts flying at around roof height, often flying fast in groups, and often giving loud screaming calls. This behaviour indicates that swifts are breeding nearby.

Are there any other local swift groups in Sheffield?

Yes. In fact we have recently teamed up with several other swifts groups in Sheffield (including the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust) to form the Sheffield Swift Network (SSN). There are many areas in Sheffield that do not have a dedicated local swift group and there are several significant city wide initiatives that require all our shared knowledge and efforts going forward. For more information please visit the website here. A full list of members are here.