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

Don’t throw it in the air- Don’t feed it – Don’t delay
See the advice on the Swift Conservation website.
Get advice and link up with swift carers on the Swift SOS Facebook page. This group has been set up to help link people who have found a grounded swift with swift carers and volunteers who can provide transport.

Is my house suitable for a swift nest box?

Swift nest boxes need to be mounted high up, ideally at least 4.5m above ground level. Birds need to have some shade so they don’t overheat in the nest box, so a North, North-East or East facing wall or gable end is ideal. West or North-West is acceptable but avoid South, South-West and South-East unless you have deep eaves providing a lot of shade.
Also avoid fitting nest boxes very close to trees, cables or other obstructions as swifts need a clear flight path to swoop in and out at high speed.

You can find very detailed information about the different types of swift bricks (internal nest boxes built into the wall of a building), and swift nest boxes (fitted onto the outside of a building) on the Swift Conservation website here.

I don’t live in the Sheffield S6 postcode area but would like a box

We’re a small voluntary group and have restricted our fitting service to the S6 postcode area in order to make the project manageable for us. We have children and jobs and the usual life commitments but as they say “If you want something done, ask a busy person”. For this reason we can’t fit nest boxes outside of S6. We would strongly encourage anyone interested in setting up a similar project in another area to just go for it! Email us if you’d like advice. You can buy the boxes we use online here, from Peak Boxes. There are lots of different types and brands of swift boxes available, but we use Peak Boxes because we like their designs and their ethos.

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?

Totley Swift Group/Friends of Gillfield Wood
Super Swifts of Walkley, Crookes and Hillsborough Facebook group – a friendly group to connect with other local swift-fans, ask for advice and share sightings