Forum Topic

Help Chiswick's Swifts

Chiswick is lucky to receive visits from Swifts each summer, truly remarkable birds.But here, as elsewhere in the UK, these birds' numbers are under pressure for a variety of reasons.A petition has been launched, as follows:"Make swift bricks compulsory in new housing to help red-listed birds""Swifts have declined by over 50% in the UK. Adult swifts, known for site-fidelity, return to the same nests. We want swift bricks to be required in all new housing, to provide homes for these birds. Surveys show these are used by red-listed swifts, house martins, starlings and house sparrows."https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/626737This petition, which closes on 30th April, currently has nearly 80,000 signatures, but needs another 20,000-odd to ensure that it will be considered for debate in Parliament, so please take a minute to sign, then pass it on.

Richard Cathcart ● 766d12 Comments

Well done, Alan. Can you take a moment to email that to Wild Chiswick via hello@wildchiswick.com or tweet via @wildchiswickhttps://twitter.com/wildchiswick?lang=en

Richard Cathcart ● 723d

Just seen what appeared to be a couple of swifts over Glebe Estate

Alan Green ● 723d

Planting tall bushes in parks for sparrows might not produce the effect you're hoping for, since many people also exercise their dogs, both on and off the leash, in those same parks.And there is ample evidence that this frightens birds and displaces them elsewhere, eg:https://www.audubon.org/news/why-leashing-dogs-easy-way-protect-birds-and-their-chicks

Richard Cathcart ● 724d

Sparrows need company. They chirp all the time to keep in touch.  If a hedge is left to grow - up to 8 ft or over, it seems to attract them, as I have discovered from walking around London.  Maybe some of our parks could encourage such bushes.

Vivienne Cox ● 724d

Had a flyer (no pun intended) left outside my door on Saturday from Wild Chiswick, preparing for the return of Swifts from around the end of the month.They are looking for help with sightings and reports of nesting etc which will be recorded to give them more accurate decisions on where to place new nest boxes etc.Also looking for volunteers and donations to help with all the valuable work they do, not just for Swifts, but also other creatures eg Hedgehogs.More info here:https://wildchiswick.com/swift-action

Richard Cathcart ● 724d

Most of Ealing's sparrows are in my back garden. It's a cat free zone and rigorously so

Peter King ● 761d

Thank you for that, Philippa.Something else I've just found out about House Sparrows:"The House sparrow, found in all towns and cities, was first attracted to our streets when the only form of transport was horse-drawn. The sparrows fed on the spilt grain in the streets and lived around the stables, common all over the city. Now that the internal combustion engine has taken over our transport system, the numbers of urban house sparrows has declined."https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/birds-in-the-city/birds-in-the-city

Richard Cathcart ● 762d

Signed for the swift boxes - and here is some info on sparrows as well - I think one of the reasons there are fewer of those is because there are fewer hedges and I didn't realise that they were social nesters:  https://www.housesparrowscience.com/help-your-sparrows/

Philippa Bond ● 762d

Done. What a lovely petition. I miss Sparrows in London.

Basil Finnis ● 763d

Signed with pleasure.

Vanessa Smith ● 764d

Signed yesterday

Loraine Pemberton ● 764d

done!

Cathy Jones ● 764d