Swanage & Purbeck SwiftsHelping swifts find a home in our towns and villages

It's been a good summer for swifts in Purbeck. In 2026 we found 120 occupied nest sites across Swanage and the surrounding villages, up from 98 last year.

We're a small group of volunteers who find where swifts nest, help protect those sites, and put up nest boxes where old nests have been lost. You can help too, and it often takes very little.

How you can help See this year's results

Why swifts need a hand

Swifts are in trouble. UK numbers fell by 66% between 1995 and 2022, and the swift is now on the Red List of birds of most conservation concern. There are two main reasons. Repairs and renovations close up the gaps they nest in, and new buildings rarely have any. And there are fewer flying insects for them to eat.

The good news is that swifts take readily to nest boxes and swift bricks. Scotland has already moved to include swift bricks in new buildings, and we'd love to see the same across England.

Life on the wing

Swifts eat, drink and even sleep in flight. A young swift may stay airborne for ten months without landing.

A long journey

They spend our winter in Africa, south of the Sahara, and fly back to the same nest each May. Pairs often stay together for years.

Small but tough

A swift weighs about 40g, yet can fly at nearly 70mph, climb to 5,700m and live for 20 years.

A summer inside a Wareham nest box

With Birds of Poole Harbour, we have a camera inside one of our nest boxes in Wareham. This is what a box can do for a pair of swifts.

A single white swift egg in a nest of feathers inside a wooden nest box — **27 May.** The first egg, laid in a nest of feathers caught in the air.

Two downy swift chicks in the nest, with a parent's long wing beside them — **2 July.** Newly hatched chicks, kept warm by a parent.

Swift chicks huddled together in the nest box, growing their first feathers — **7 July.** Growing fast on a diet of flying insects.

An adult swift spreading its long wings over the chicks in the nest box — **22 July.** A parent shelters the chicks for the night.

Photos from our nest box camera, run with Birds of Poole Harbour.

What we found in 2026

98 → 120occupied nest sites we found, 2025 to 2026
12 → 26nest boxes in use, more than double last year
78nest boxes put up across Purbeck since 2022

Each summer we watch local buildings to see where swifts are nesting. This year we found more occupied nests than last year in most places, and many more swifts using nest boxes. Swanage itself went from 28 to 36 occupied sites.

Occupied swift nest sites, 2025 and 2026
Area	Natural nests	Nest boxes in use	Total 2025	Total 2026
Swanage	20 → 25	8 → 11	28	36
Langton Matravers	6 → 5	2 → 10	8	15
Corfe Castle	26 → 30	0 → 0	26	30
Wareham	12 → 12	2 → 5	14	17
Church Knowle	17 → 14	0 → 0	17	14
Kingston	5 → 7	0 → 0	5	7
Worth Matravers	0 → 1	0 → 0	0	1
All areas	86 → 94	12 → 26	98	120

Small numbers, clear pattern

Most areas have only a handful of nests, so one nest more or less can look like a big change. In Worth Matravers, for example, we found one nest this year after none last year. In Church Knowle we could only carry out one survey this summer, so the small fall there may simply be nests we missed. What matters is the overall picture: more swifts nesting, and nest boxes working.

Nest boxes are working

In Langton Matravers, a holiday complex fitted six swift boxes during renovation work. Swifts moved into five of them straight away. Across Langton, boxes in use rose from 2 to 10 this year.

Churches are making room

We've helped the churches at Worth and Corfe each fit a block of swift boxes inside a belfry louvre. We designed them to protect the listed building and keep crows and jackdaws out, and fitting them cost the churches nothing.

A colony saved in Swanage

In May, scaffolding went up on a block of flats just as swifts were returning. The owner didn't know his six boxes had all been used in 2025. When we asked, he kindly removed the netting over them, and the scaffolding was down by early June.

How you can help

Swifts come back to the same nest every year. If that gap in the eaves has been blocked, they have nowhere to go. The first three steps below make the biggest difference.

Put up a nest box. Autumn and winter are the best times to fit one, so it's ready when swifts return in May. Email swiftresearch67@gmail.com and we'll talk it through with you.
Put up a nest box where a nest has been lost. If you've had re-roofing, new soffits or gaps filled in, a box close to the old spot gives returning swifts a ready-made home. We can advise on where to put it and help you fit it.
Avoid scaffolding in the summer. Swifts nest from early May to August. If you can, plan roof, eaves and painting work for the autumn or winter. If scaffolding has to go up in summer, keep netting and sheeting clear of nest holes and boxes. Nests in use are protected by law, so it's an offence to block or disturb an active swift nest.
Ask for swift bricks. If you're building or extending, a swift brick sits inside the wall and gives swifts a permanent home for the life of the building.
Tell us where you see them. Swifts screaming low around rooftops in June and July usually have nests nearby. Let us know, or record them on the RSPB's Swift Mapper app.

Swift, swallow or martin?

A swift in flight, dark all over, with long curved wings — **Swifts** are dark all over, with long, curved, scythe-shaped wings. They scream as they race round rooftops.

A swallow seen from below in flight, with its long tail streamers spread — **Swallows** have long tail streamers and a dark throat.

A house martin in flight, dark blue above and pure white below — **House martins** are smaller, with pure white underneath and a bright white rump. They build mud nests under the eaves.

Not sure? Send us a photo or a description and we'll help.

Who we are

We started in 2021 and have been recording swift nests ever since. We're part of Sustainable Swanage, and we work with Birds of Poole Harbour through the Dorset Swift Network to fund boxes and swift callers, which play swift calls to draw birds to new boxes.

As well as surveying, we give talks in village halls in Swanage, Corfe Castle, Church Knowle and Worth Matravers, lead swift walks in summer, and have helped bring swifts to television, including Springwatch. With Birds of Poole Harbour, we also run the Wareham nest box camera, so we can watch a swift family up close.

You don't need to know anything about birds to join us. If you enjoy looking up on a summer evening, there's a place for you.

When we're out

May to August

Swifts are here and nesting. We survey buildings, run swift walks and give talks.

Autumn and winter

The swifts have gone, so it's the time to fit nest boxes and plan for next year.

Any time

Ask us for advice on boxes, building work or a nest you've spotted.

Want to help, or have swifts near you? Email swiftresearch67@gmail.com or find us on Facebook.

Get in touch More ways to help nature

This page draws on the group's nest survey records for 2025 and 2026 (compiled 21 September 2026) and its 2026 Purbeck Sounds radio talk. UK population figures are from the Breeding Bird Survey, 1995 to 2022.

Photos: banner swift by Alexis Lours (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons. Nest box photos from our camera in Wareham, run with Birds of Poole Harbour. Identification photos from Wikimedia Commons: swift by Paweł Kuźniar (CC BY-SA 3.0), swallow by Thermos and Cactus26 (CC BY-SA 3.0), house martin by Ómar Runólfsson (CC BY 2.0).