Swifts are often considered the sound of summer as they career noisily through the sky, but these vibrant birds are in dramatic decline and need a helping hand.

According to the RSPB, there is a 53 per cent decline in the numbers of swifts, so Salisbury City Council and Salisbury and Wilton Swifts group have teamed up to install swift boxes.

Swifts usually nest under roofs or in walls, but these valuable spaces are greatly in decline now and the breeding numbers in the UK declined by 58 per cent between 1995 and 2021.

Marc Read, the environmental services manager at Salisbury City Council said: “Thank you Salisbury and Wilton Swifts for working with us to help increase biodiversity in our city.

“We are lucky to have a number of swifts visit Salisbury so it is important that we do all we can to reverse the decline. Please visit the Salisbury and Wilton Swifts website to find out what you can do to help.”

A number of boxes have been installed in Salisbury including at the Bemerton Heath Centre, Devizes Road Cemetery Lodge and at Hudson’s Field but are more are planned.

Daniel Kronenberg, the coordinator of Salisbury and Wilton Swifts, said: “Salisbury City Council has done really well, and I think they really do want to support biodiversity.

“We hope that our work with the council will go towards stabilising, or even reversing, the downward trend.”

In December 2021, swifts were put on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern, and it is hoped that by placing swift boxes, the species can recover.

For more information, visit the Salisbury and Wilton Swifts website

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