One of Britain’s most well loved birds whose reappearance in mid-May marks the start of summer for a lot of people has seen a considerable reduction in numbers recently, which conservation charity the RSPB has attributed to its reliance on domestic properties in providing nesting sites.
The swift usually nests around the eaves or in roof spaces as it is unable to launch itself from the ground and new findings by the RSPB has shown that in around 77% of cases, swifts choose to nest in domestic properties, and although other sites such as old barns, office blocks and commercial properties are used by the birds, loss of nesting sites at domestic properties could cause further devastating losses to the bird population.
The charity has noted that an increase in the amount of people carrying out home improvements could be partly to blame for the loss of swifts’ nesting places. More people are looking to add value to their homes by extending into attic space with loft conversions or renovating older run down properties and derelict buildings, including roof repairs and blocking up holes in soffits and fascias. By undertaking home improvements, the work often results in the loss of the access points that the birds would have used to enter their nesting site and because swifts mate for life and return to the same nesting spot every year, this can cause significant problems for the creatures.