Derbyshire Dales Swift Project – Plans for 2026

By Charly Crump – Community Engagement and Communications Officer, DSC We’re kicking off the 2026 Swift season with a celebration on Sunday 12 April at the Whitworth, Darley Dale. This is a free event for all ages with puppet workshops, informative stalls, talks from Swift experts and theatre performances. If you’d like to come along, please save your (free) spot at https://bit.ly/homesforswifts .

Swifts are extraordinary birds: they live almost entirely on the wing, only landing to breed when they reach 3-4 years old. Despite this wild and free aerial lifestyle, their lives are entwined with our own – Swifts rely almost entirely on buildings to breed, nesting inside cavities in our homes, churches and other buildings. Swifts arrive back with us in late April to early May and established pairs return to the same nest every year, creating colonies that can last for centuries.

Swift numbers have declined across the UK, by more than 60% over the last 25 years. They are now designated as a red-listed bird of conservation concern (2021, UK Conservation Status Report). One factor causing Swift decline is the loss of nest sites as a result of building repairs and renovations.

In 2024, Derbyshire Swift Conservation secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a two-year project to explore ways to conserve Swifts in the Derbyshire Dales. We currently don’t have a complete picture of the number of Swifts or where their colonies are in the Dales. If we don’t know where they are nesting, then we cannot take action to protect them.

In 2025 our volunteer teams carried out 170 Swift surveys in 11 villages – including Tideswell where we are working closely with the Tideswell & District Environment Group. We also worked with the Wild Skies project in Cressbrook, and Chatsworth Estates. We recorded 358 Swift nests across 238 properties in 11 settlements.

Our surveys are used to identify high-risk nest sites (e.g. buildings in need of repair) and to carefully plan nest box installation. We hope to increase connectivity between isolated colonies and provide additional nest site provision near high-risk sites as a mitigation. We will be distributing flyers through your door if you live in one of these targeted areas this spring. So look out for a flyer through your door or register your interest in a nestbox here: https://bit.ly/nestforswift .

If you would like to volunteer to survey Swifts in your area in 2026, we would also be delighted to hear from you! Full training is provided. You can sign up at: https://bit.ly/swiftvolunteer or email our project coordinator – Claire: cmead@derbyshireswiftconservation.org .