BBC News – Jul 12 9:14 AM
A survey to find out where swifts are nesting in Edinburgh has been launched in a bid to help boost the depleting numbers of the rare bird.
Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Ornithologists Club want the public to report sightings of swifts in the city.
The renovation of old buildings, which swifts nest in, is being blamed for the plummeting numbers of the birds.
Bird experts can install artificial nesting sites if they discover where the birds are congregating.
Last year only 42 nests were found in the capital, which has left bird experts concerned.
Caroline Peacock, Edinburgh Council’s biodiversity officer, said the capital was recognised as an important area for swifts, as they traditionally nest in the cracks and crevices of old buildings during summer.
She said: “It is essential that we take measures to help this special bird, whose antics, looping over the rooftops catching insects, are one of the highlights of summer in Edinburgh.
“Swift numbers have declined in Scotland by 62% in the last decade and the loss of nesting spaces, as old buildings have been renovated, is thought to be a key factor.”
Number of initiatives
The survey is one of a number of initiatives the council is undertaking to help the swifts.
Last year, its planning committee introduced a series of guidelines for developers which encourage more swift-friendly designs.
These include using ‘swift bricks’, concrete blocks inserted into a wall which provide a nesting area for the birds, or creating an open access eave, which allows the birds to nest in small ceiling alcoves.
The guidelines are part of a series of biodiversity guidelines to create more environmentally-friendly buildings across the capital.
Looking like a black scythe-shape in flight, swifts are extremely clean and hygienic birds, removing debris and droppings from their nests, and are not a ‘pest’ species.
