It has been a successful summer for our local Swifts with the classic screeching calls as they zip over the rooftops a welcome background to warm summer evenings sat in the garden. They arrived in early May returning to breeding territories across Worthing but by the end of July most of our local birds have already headed south, leaving our skies quiet and empty. If those sights and sounds fill you with delight and with longing for the return of our swifts next May, then please read on; if they leave you cold, then this short piece is probably not for you !!”
Common Swift over Broadwater (with thanks to Lee Manvell)
The Common Swift is one of our most iconic birds and, for many, one of THE sounds of Summer, but the news backdrop around them is a familiarly depressing one:- the species has drastically declined in the UK over the past 30 years. For every 10 you would have seen back in 1996, on average, you would only have seen 3 in 2025 !
Our local Swifts have received a welcome boost from the Worthing and Adur Swift group set up in 2025 to try and support this iconic species, and although the work this Summer is not yet quite complete, the trends in just our second year of activity are hugely encouraging. Comparing 2026 to 2025 volunteer numbers have quadrupled from 10 to over 40, allowing three additional local areas to be included in breeding surveys. As a result of these, we have been able to detect many more active nest-sites, which is crucial to help protecting them from damage in the future.
Thanks to Paul Stevens (an SOS champion) and his ladders, we have been installing new Nest Boxes since April and although we are not quite done for the Summer yet we aim to complete around 100 new Nest Boxes ready for next year. Crucially almost 50 boxes have new callers installed next to them, (thanks to grant funding from Sussex Ornithological Society), which significantly increases the chance of those boxes being used for nesting in the next 2 to 3 years. Plus there is other good news, with three local housing developers pledging to include Swift bricks in their new projects.
The results have been impressive, with several box-hosts already reporting plenty of young “bangers” checking out the new box, with a view to using it next year, helping increase the local breeding population from the 22 known nest sites at the start of 2025.
What has been amazing (and rewarding) this Summer, has been seeing the sheer delight and enthusiasm of many recipients of the new boxes and callers. I suspect it’s because so often the plight of a particular bird-species requires a huge, co-ordinated campaign (by the likes of RSPB or SWT, working with farmers and others); whereas “saving our swifts” can genuinely be the work of individuals who care - walking their streets to record birds and nests and/or putting up a box + caller on their own house !
So a huge thank you to all the volunteers, to Paul Stevens, to the hosts of boxes + callers, to SDOS for supporting us and to SOS for generously providing the funds which have funded 37 callers so far this season.
We now have over 270 members in our Facebook page, so please join or contact us if you would like to help our Swifts in 2027 !!
Email - one5wift@proton.me
Facebook page - Worthing & Adur Swift Group
Or via the SDOS website
