Save our Swifts

In early May the skies around Malmesbury are filled with the screeching and swooping of Swifts (Apus apus) This diminutive, dusky bird arrives back from wintering in Africa to breed in the UK. They are an incredible animal that feeds, sleeps and even mates on the wing in flight and are some of the fastest birds in the skies.

Last June we led a walk across St Aldhelm’s Mead at dusk and were treated to a spectacular acrobatic display of swifts zooming overhead and listening to their characteristic cries. It’s really something you must experience if you live locally.

Yet despite Malmesbury being blessed with a healthy population of Swifts they are on the UK conservation Red List due to their declining numbers nationally.

Swifts pair for life and return to the same nest site each year. They often nest in houses and churches, squeezing through tiny gaps to nest inside roofs. But as more old buildings are renovated and gaps in soffits closed up, Swift nest sites are fast disappearing. Insect numbers have also declined, leaving them with less food to feed themselves and raise young.

We are proud to host so many Swifts in Malmesbury and want to take steps to ensure we maintain a healthy population into the future. 

Photo: Neil Parker
Photo credit: Neil Parker
Photo: Neil Parker

We kicked off our Swift project in 2024 by surveying Malmesbury’s Swifts and attempted to identify as many nest sites as possible. Read our Swift Reports for 2024 and 2025 to find out what has happened.

This will help inform further protection measures and possible locations for installing new nest boxes.

If you are interested in helping survey Malmesbury’s Swifts please get in touch with us.

You can also report general sightings via the free SwiftMapper app. Please record your sightings and we should soon be able to identify where they like to nest by checking the map on the Swift Mapper website.
 Please report swifts flying low, below roof-top level, swifts pausing to perch briefly on house walls or eaves and, in particular, swifts entering buildings, whether through the roof or other holes.
 Do not report simply seeing Swifts flying high above ground as they may just be passing through on their way to somewhere else in the UK.
If you do not live in Malmesbury we are still keen to know where Swifts are nesting and your sightings are still very useful to the researchers trying to improve conditions for Swifts.

Swift Report 2025

As a result of an exceptionally warm and sunny season swift breeding success is expected to be high. Some areas of the country are well ahead of us in nest monitoring and have cameras installed in boxes, they are reporting quite a few nests with 3 young fledged.

This should mean high numbers of young birds returning to Malmesbury next year, although it will be 3 or 4 years before this is reflected in the number of breeding pairs.

The season ended early in Malmesbury, the number of swifts seen starting to dwindle shortly after the middle of July. A large gathering of around 40, flying high, were seen on 18th July, perhaps an indication of preparation for migration. Young still present in at least one nest on 6th August. The last sighting was on 13th August.

More nest sites were found this year (31) compared to last (20) but this is not necessarily indicative of increased nest occupation because we must still be missing quite a few nests located in less accessible areas. It is clear that 3 or 4 of last year’s sites have not been used. One, on Bristol Street, has been blocked up by building work and we are hoping to have a nest box fixed to the house in compensation. This is by no means guaranteed to work, certainly not in the short term, and it is far better to try to avoid blocking entry points.

We are, however, continuing with our plan of installing swift boxes in as many locations as possible, particularly close to existing colonies. At present there are 18 boxes installed in the town, most in the past year.

Nest sites located:

  • 1 on Abbey Row
  • 1 on Burnham Road
  • 2 on Bristol Street
  • 4 on Burnivale
  • 2 on Foundry Road
  • 1 on Gastons Road
  • 2 on Horsefair
  • 3 on King’s Wall
  • 1 on Knoll Close
  • 2 on Oxford Street
  • 2 on Silver Street
  • 3 on St. John’s Street
  • 1 at Silk Mills
  • 6 on West Street

Boxes in place (18)

  • 3 – URC
  • 3 – The Light
  • 1 – West Street
  • 2 – Gastons Road
  • 6 – King’s Wall area
  • 2 – Bremilham Road
  • 1 – Bristol Street

Around 12 swift bricks have been built into properties on the new builds at Cartmell Close.

Swift Tower
When originally built the swift tower (paid for by Waitrose) had a device in the base which played swift calls through speakers in the top. Unfortunately the tower has been forgotten about by all parties involved, no monitoring has taken place and the device has been removed by persons unknown. We would like to get the caller operational again, because it is known to be successful in attracting swifts to the nearby boxes, so Waitrose has been contacted to see if they will help.

David Wall
Swift Group, Malmesbury and District Natural History Society

Swift Report 2024

During the swift nesting season the group was able to locate around 20 nests. Although it was a poor season in terms of weather, and hence insect availability, we believe that breeding in general was reasonably successful. At some future point it would be very desirable to equip some nests with camera equipment in order that we could monitor the breeding success of a sample of birds.

Nest sites located:

  • 1 on Abbey Row
  • 3 possibly 4, on Bristol Street
  • 1 possibly 2, on Burnham Road
  • 1 on Burnivale
  • 1 on Foundry Road
  • 2 on Gastons Road
  • 2 on Horsefair
  • 2 on King’s Wall
  • 2 possibly 3, on St. Johns Street
  • 1 possibly 2, at Silk Mills
  • 1 possibly 2 (at same property) on Silver Street
  • 3 on West Street (one house probably with multiple occupation)

Swifts were seen on 9th August but have probably now left the area for another year. In their absence there are a number of tasks which we hope to carry out to ensure their continuing breeding success in the town and surroundings.

Swifts often return to the same site used in previous years, with the same partner. If this site is no longer available due to renovation work on a roof then they have the problem of finding a new location. Additionally, young swifts which have not yet bred will nevertheless return from Africa in the summer, somewhat later than the breeders, partly in order to check out possible nest sites for future use.

There are two actions which we can take to ensure that returning swifts can all be accommodated. First of all, if any renovation work is being undertaken it is important to try to ensure that swift entrance holes are not blocked. This is best achieved by talking to builders and homeowners at the point when the work is about to commence.

Secondly, we propose to install a number of swift boxes on houses in the areas most popular with swifts. One or two homeowners have already asked for boxes and we are hoping to find more. We have a certain amount of funding available to assist with this plan. Some progress has been made in talking to the churches, which are obvious, prominent locations where swifts should be nesting. In particular the United Reform Church, right in the middle of the busiest swift area in town, is planning to install some boxes this autumn during gutter maintenance work.

Some recent good news is that Persimmon Homes and 19 other house builders have signed a commitment to build in a swift brick on all houses in new developments from September 2024.