Wildlife campaigners urge Sheffield Council to act to help save endangered swifts

A campaigner told councillors that swifts, once disturbed or blocked from their nest holes in buildings, will injure or even kill themselves by repeatedly trying to fly back in.

Flora Jeferzade from Sheffield Swift Network presented a 1,417-name petition to the council’s transport, regeneration and climate policy committee. She said: “There are many environmental problems that we cannot solve but we can make a difference to the wonderful, amazing birds, our swifts.

“They’ve been on Earth for 72 million years and they’ll be extinct in 30 if we don’t provide permanent nesting opportunities now. Swifts have declined by 60 per cent since 1997, they are awesome birds that eat, sleep, drink and mate on the wing and are in critical danger.

“The main cause of their decline is nest destruction. For swifts this means the holes in houses that they are using are being blocked by the modern building practice of fitting sofits and facias.

“This year, despite our pleas, a long-established colony in Totley had plastic sofits installed perfectly legally out of nesting season, blocking historic nesting sites in the eaves of a home. Precious breeding adults returned from central Africa after an exhausting 6,000-kilometre journey to find their nests blocked forever.

“The local swifts group in Crookes had better luck as swifts’ nests were illegally blocked by scaffolding during nesting time. The work was delayed and the swifts were saved.

‘Many will break their wings’

“In June, a large colony was threatened by a re-roofing scheme in Handsworth. We watched the swifts continuously crashing into scaffolding, trying to enter three blocked nests during nesting season but we were able to halt much of the work.

“Once the scaffolding was down, while they were nesting, we witnessed the swifts fly back to their original nests. They don’t give up, many will break their wings and die trying to enter their imprinted nests.

“This is happening all over the country without being noticed. We’ve worked with Sky-House at Oughtibridge Mill to install 50 permanent swift bricks, as is happening across the country.

“There are many brands for all situations and surfaces. It is contained within the building for life, maintenance-free and weather-proof, cheap and easy to install. They are as unnoticeable as an air brick but their importance is unquestionable to the survival of these birds.

“We still have pockets of swift colonies clinging on in Sheffield but these are vulnerable. No holes, no nests, no chicks, no swifts.”

Councillors agreed to add swift bricks to a range of biodiversity-friendly measures in the draft Local Plan. It outlines council planning and development policies and is due to be adopted in 2024.

Documents attached to the plan would go into what the council recommends to developers in greater detail.

William Stewart, council director of investment, climate change and planning, said: “I recognise the passion around the petition. Planning diversity could include swift bricks. We will make sure that swift bricks are included.”

Flora said that the measure sounded “halfway there”. The group said in the meeting that they want to work with the council but are pushing for what their petition is calling for.

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