It's World Swift Day

We would like to swiftly share some interesting facts with you about Swifts and inform you of up-and-coming events.

A swift in flight

We have been lucky this year to have a very sunny, warm, spring. The dry weather has not been good for many species, but for our Swifts, who have just travelled the longest migration for a bird in the world at around 14,000 miles from Equatorial and Southern South Africa, it’s a good time to ‘make hay while the sun shines’. The swifts arrive in the UK and Europe to breed and they are with us for only 12 weeks.

Their arrival will signal the arrival of summer for many of us. This year they arrived around 11 days earlier than normal. Perhaps they could sense a calmer weather system this year and wanted to make the most of it? They usually arrive at the beginning of May, meet up with their mate, and together they continue to build the same nest each year. They will raise usually 1 or 2 chicks, occasionally 3, screech around our skies, bonding and playing in social groups and always perfecting their acrobatics, before they leave us again in August.

A swift at a nesting box

Due to habitat loss and possibly the decline in insects, our Swift populations have plummeted. They are now on the red danger list of Conservation Concern – declining by 62% between 1995 and 2021. Our skies could soon become very quiet indeed, for this bird is on the brink of extinction.

Swifts eat, sleep and even mate on the wing. Once fledged, they then spend the next 3 years in flight, never landing, until such a time they are ready to breed, where upon they search for a hole to nest in, usually in urban areas, up under our roof eaves, or in holes in old buildings. Swifts cannot perch, so they are not the birds you sometime see lined up on telegraph poles. They are usually Swallows or house Martins, who make their nests cups out of mud.

Their inability to perch limits how they can build a nest, relying on pre-existing holes in buildings. It therefore consists of anything they can catch on the wing, hay blown up from a field, butterflies, moths and feathers, which are all woven together with saliva. Their inability to perch also means they need to be one of the fastest birds to arrive in their nest hole, almost crash landing as they approach the nest with speeds of 60+ mph.

Swifts making nests in pre-existing holes in buildings

This majestic and sometimes comical bird is worth saving. Here at Guildford Swift Project, we are doing all we can to help. From putting up Swift boxes, to advising on Swift bricks for new builds, to putting boxes in church towers, to rescuing fallen Swifts, to running awareness stalls at events, to surveying our local population of Swifts and helping prevent wildlife crimes, we have it covered.

So far, we have put up 243 boxes in Guildford and the surrounding villages. We are currently preparing to put up more across Guildford, Godalming, Farncombe, Shamley Green and Haslemere this Summer. We are also looking to explore other projects, for example more churches and Surrey University.

Introducing Our New Logo

We’re also thrilled to unveil our new Guildford Swift Project logo! The design features a beautiful illustration of Guildford Castle, one of our town’s most iconic landmarks, with Swifts soaring overhead, capturing both the heritage of our local area and the grace of these remarkable birds. The logo will appear on all our future materials and at events to help raise awareness and build a strong, recognisable identity for our work. Keep an eye out for it - we hope it inspires even more people to join our mission to save Swifts.

Our next event is our Swift stall at:

Shamley Village Green Summer Fete, 1pm, 14th of June, 2025. Come and meet us.

https://www.sgvillagefete.com/

https://www.sgvillagefete.com/location

Come and visit our Swift stall at Shamley Village Green

If you would like to enquire about our work, volunteer with this project, or believe you could offer a place on your building for a Swift box or two.

Please contact us on swift2saveswifts@gmail.com

Or find out more @ https://www.facebook.com/guildfordswiftproject