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Copies of the 2022 updated version of the booklet ‘We are Swifts, We are in Trouble’ can be obtained by emailing swiftconservationireland@gmail.com
Swift Conservation Ireland is a volunteer led initiative. This website is a platform for providing advice and information about conservation actions for the Swifts across Ireland.
If you would like information about activities in your area to be added to the website please email us.
The swift is on the Red list of birds of conservation concern in Ireland because its population has declined by over 40% in the last 15 years. Conservation actions across the country are helping to recover populations.
Swifts come to our towns to breed every year. They breed in the same nest site every year and this is their home. The breeding birds arrive in late April to early May and they start to leave from mid-August but some birds are still here in early September. The months they spend here are extremely important to the future of the species because they are coming here to breed and so ‘here’ should be considered their home
Swifts are faithful to their nest sites. Once they have found a place to nest, they will return to it every year for the rest of their lives. Nest box projects, especially built-in nest boxes, can provide safe long-term homes for new breeding pairs of swifts.