The Ely Diocese Swifts Project

Our Projects &
How you can help!

Swifts, those beautiful sickle-shaped "Devil Birds" that fly like demons and scream round our skies on summer evenings, are in rapid decline.

They are losing their nest places as old buildings are demolished or renovated, while new buildings are sealed and useless to them. Often the only place they still hang on is in the village church.

St Mary the Virgin, St Neots Photo Edward Mayer

The British Trust for Ornithology estimates that Swifts declined in East Anglia by 33% from 1994 to 2007.

St Margarets' Chippenham

This decline is getting steadily worse as new and renovated buildings cannot host Swifts. Quite soon there may be nowhere for Swifts to nest.

Swifts need our help

Our churches, historically popular with these birds, are in an excellent position to provide that help.

A couple of years ago several of us from the Ely Diocese, London's Swifts, Action for Swifts, the Cambridge Greenbelt Project and the Cambs & Peterborough Biological Records Centre got together to help Ely's Swifts.

We decided to find suitable churches in areas where Swifts were still present, and, using our expertise, develop them as sites for new Swift colonies, replacing ones that had been lost or looked likely to disappear.

Using our surveys of Swift populations in villages and churches, we now have the information to start more nest box projects, and we are managing about three such projects each year.

Success so far has been modest, but encouraging.

In 2007 twelve nest places in the boxes installed at St Mary's Ely were used. This is double the number used in 2006, a very welcome sign.

Elsewhere, Swifts are being attracted to the churches at Chippenham, Haddenham and St Neots by the Swift Calls CD's that we play, but have yet to nest there.

Our surveys of the churches of the Diocese give us an idea of Swifts' presence, location and numbers. Not surprisingly, we find many places which once housed Swifts but no longer hold any. A Swift overhead on a grey day - note how dark they look. Swifts have a pale patch under their chins, rarely visible. Otherwise they are a dark brown-black. The juveniles are paler. Photo Derek Brown	In 2008 Swift nestboxes were fitted in the church at Oakington, (where at least one pair of Swifts is nesting in a small and vulnerable crevice in the stonework) and extra boxes were made for St Mary's Ely. The churches where we hope, subject to agreement, to fit Swift nest boxes over the next couple of years now include Arrington, Elton, Fordham, Fowlmere & Ramsey St Thomas a Becket If you would like to help us with our projects please do get in touch with Dick Newell. See foot of page for more links.	A Swift's nest, made from saliva, feathers and airborne debris. Note the dead chick at bottom right. Swift chicks may starve if the weather is cold and their insect food supply diminishes. Photo GBN-Nederland Click on the little Swift to see a great BBC video about Swifts (the voiceover is in Spanish!)
Above - All Saints, Landbeach- the new Swift boxes are in the Tower, behind the louvres. Swifts love these sites, and here they can breed in peace, out of the way.	Photos Jake Alsopp Our latest project is at All Saints Church, Worlington, near Mildenhall. Swifts nesting in a nearby cottage are to be evicted by its demolition, so Ely Swifts members Judith Wakelam, Dick Newell, Bob Tonks & Bill Murrells, put up some replacement homes for them in the nearby Church. The boxes are shown below.	Dick Newell and Mark Hawkes (on the left) install Swift nest boxes behind the louvres in All Saints, Landbeach. Photos of church & boxes Dick Newell / AfS
Swifts are trouble-free tenants. They do not want to nest inside the Church, just in the eaves or under roof tiles, within a few inches of a safe exit to the outside. Unlike other birds, they don't usually leave piles of droppings under their nest places. A migrant that spends much of the year in southern Africa, Swifts are only in the UK from late April to August, and only spend about 10 to 12 weeks in their nests.		The boxes before fitting - there's space here for 16 pairs of Swifts - a big colony that will make a real difference to their future in Fenland.
Above, ideal nest places for Swifts have been made behind these church tower louvres at Chippenham, out of sight and out of trouble too. Only Swifts can access the nest boxes, netting behind the other louvres stops pigeons from gaining access, and they are much too big to get into the Swifts' boxes. Photo Dick Newell / AfS	How to take part in our DIY surveys: To participate in our DIY surveys, download the form and instructions (click the button bottom left) and have a couple of great evenings watching out for these incredible birds! If you have a site for Swifts, have a word with Dick Newell (click on the link bottom right). To find out more about these fantastic birds and the ways you can help them, have a look at this web site and have a look too at the Swift Video ( the link is under the photo of a Swift's nest, above left).	If your Church has a tower with louvred windows, then you may be able to fit some nest boxes. Their great advantages are that they are safe and easy to fit and inspect from the interior of the tower, and fully contain the birds so they don't get into the building or interfere with bellringers' activities or maintenance access. The boxes are only fitted to a few selected apertures, (on the North and West facades) so should have not reduce the sound of the bells. If you are interested, contact Dick Newell (via the link below) or, if you have the carpentry skills required, download Church Warden Bill Murrell's (not to scale) Louvre Box Design (below, left), as installed at Chippenham. This design has been approved by the Diocese of Ely for fitting in its churches.
St Mary the Virgin, St Neots, (see the photo at the top of this page) sits in a superb setting. Known as the "Cathedral of Huntingdonshire" it was built in the late 15th Century in Perpendicular style. The magnificent tower houses ten bells and reaches almost 130 feet high. The Vicar and PCC of St Neots parish church appreciated the potential of their church for nesting Swifts, as a nearby Swift colony, in an old industrial building, will need new accommodation when rebuilding there gets under way. They gave permission to install 2 cabinets, each containing 6 nest-boxes, behind the bell louvres high up on the north side of the tower.	Above, cabinets providing multiple nest places for Swifts were specially made for St Mary the Virgin, St Neots Photo Dick Newell / AfS A speaker system has been installed to play the London's Swifts calls CD to attract the birds to nest in the new boxes.	Above, Bob Tonks, Bill Murrells and Dick Newell installed these Swift nest cabinets at St Mary the Virgin, St Neots. Netting prevents Pigeons from entering the open louvres seen beneath the boxes. Photo Dick Newell / AfS Would you like to help the Ely Swifts Group? Contact Dick Newell via the link below if you would like to help to save Ely's Swifts.
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