Wiltshire and Dorset farmers take action to boost falling swift numbers
Swifts are a red-listed species of bird
A red-listed bird species is being given a boost in South Wiltshire and North Dorset to help increase declining numbers.
The population of Swifts in the region has dropped by 75% over the last thirty years, but farmers in the Allenford and Martin Down cluster have taken action by installing bird boxes for the species to use.
It's been achieved by working with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), and aims to give Swifts more sites in which they can nest.
Megan Lock, GWCT's Farmland Biodiversity Advisor told Greatest Hits Radio that Swift's nesting sites have been removed as homes have become more efficient.
Normally, Swifts would nest in cavities below the eaves, in the wall and below the roof of houses, but these have all been taken away.
"We've had to intervene because those nesting opportunities have gone and the only way now we can help them is to put nesting opportunities there for them, which are man made," Megan said.
They've installed 31 nest boxes and 8 calling speakers around the farmland to offer the species more places to breed.
Swifts migrate to the UK from Africa, but during recent surveys carried by Megan across the Allenford and Martin Down cluster, she recorded that swifts were nowhere to be seen.
But she was able to secure funding for the project from The Swire Charitable Trust through GWCT, Fordingbridge Greener Living and a Hampshire County Councillor Grant from Cllr Edward Heron.
Megan told us she expects it to be a couple of years before we see any noticeable impact.
I think it's going to take a couple of years for these boxes to settle in into the landscape. We have got callers on a number of the boxes, so that will give them a great opportunity for them to be used because they'll become noticed by the Swifts that are passing over."
However, there has already been a couple of areas in the farmer cluster where swifts have been spotted again.