The UK-SWIFTS PROJECT was created in early 2008 in an attempt to start building a database of all known Common Swift (Apus Apus) breeding sites in the United Kingdom in order that they may be protected. It has been such a resounding success that the operation of the database was taken over by the RSPB in May 2009.

What's the problem, and how can you help?
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You don't have to be a bird enthusiast to help reverse the alarming decline in the Swift population of the UK, which has seen their numbers crash by 50% in the last seven years. If action is not taken soon, Swifts could disappear from our summer skies forever.

It is widely believed that the demolition and/or renovation of the ageing human housing stock has deprived Swifts of many of their traditional breeding sites, and that this is the main cause of the population crash. However, the locations of successful colony sites are currently known only to local residents - if at all.

Please share your knowledge of probable Swift breeding colony locations by going to: http//www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/index.asp

Please join UK-Swifts to show your support, and use the message forum to share ideas about ways we can all help Swifts. Feel free to use any of the documents from this site and please spread the word about the RSPB's Swift Inventory Project as widely as possible.


Home page photo courtesy of Steve Bennett.
"Their flight is full of joy and their swiftness is breathtaking." Poet, Shira Twersky-Kassel




If you want to join an international discussion group covering Swallows, Martins and Swifts