Council Leaning Toward Bird Tower to Bring Back Guildford’s Vanishing Swifts

Published on: 15 May, 2019
Updated on: 16 May, 2019

A computer image of the swift tower variants from Guildford Borough Council

By Rebecca Curley

local democracy reporter

Guildford Borough Council is considering a 10 metre nesting tower to attract back swifts after area numbers have drastically declined.

The tower, planned to allow up to 56 pairs of birds to breed and designed to look an artwork, would be near a car-park and recreation ground on the junction of Kings Road and Chinthurst Lane in Shalford.

The repeating vertical elements would echo Romanian sculptor Brancusi’s Endless Column sculpture, considered to be among the great works of the 20th century, council documents claim.

The proposal has also been designed to identify with the local rural vernacular of barns, mills, silos and other rural industry.

The sequence of shapes is also related to organic forms such as seed pods and ears of wheat. The proposed materials would include cedar shingle for the external cladding and a powder-coated metal pole in a neutral colour.

Shalford has a small population of swifts, says a report to be presented to councillors on GBC planning panel at its meeting on Wednesday, June 22.

The birds are most noticeable during summer months and are the fastest bird in level flight and the longest migratory flight of any bird species, say council officers.

They arrive from central Africa in early May and make their nests of straw and saliva in church towers and other tall buildings.

Young swifts remain in the nest for 37–56 days, depending on the weather conditions. If it gets too cold, they fall into a sleepy state called torpor – a bit like hibernation – during which they don’t feed until conditions improve. Youngsters are independent as soon as they leave the nest, and set out immediately on migration

Read more at https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/natures-home-magazine/birds-and-wildlife-articles/migration/migratory-bird-stories/swift-migration/#WJbgb2EdPcc9HW3J.99

They arrive from central Africa in early May and make their nests of straw and saliva in church towers and other tall buildings. Young swifts remain in the nest for 37 to 56 days, depending on the weather conditions. If it gets too cold, they fall into a sleepy state called torpor, like hibernation, during which they don’t feed until conditions improve. Youngsters are independent as soon as they leave the nest, and set out immediately on migration

RSPB figures show a massive 53% decrease in breeding numbers in the UK between 1995 and 2016. The charity says this is partly down to a loss of nest sites and has now put swifts on a conservation rating status as an amber-listed species.

The papers prepared for planning approval for the nesting tower state: “The loss of nest sites is partly responsible for this decline. The birds return to the same spot each year to breed and with the tendency to seal buildings during renovation or knock them down their nesting places are being destroyed so they return to find their nest site is gone or access is blocked and they will then not nest again.”

The proposed tower would provide a secure and long-lasting nesting space for the swifts, birds often confused with swallows and martins. They are dark, sooty brown all over, but often look black against the sky.

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