Swift Awareness Week - A Free Talk and Exhibition by Hampshire Swifts

Hampshire Swifts will have an exhibition at Ringwood Meeting House from 29th June – 31st July. On 1st July, Hampshire Swifts Trustee Wendy Reid will give a talk about swifts, their remarkable lives, and the conservation efforts taking place across Hampshire to help protect them.

Swifts are among the most extraordinary birds to visit the UK each summer, spending almost their entire lives in the air — eating, drinking, sleeping and even mating while flying. After travelling thousands of miles from Africa to breed here, they return year after year to the same nesting sites in our towns and villages. Yet swift numbers in the UK have declined dramatically in recent decades, largely due to the loss of nesting spaces in older buildings and modern developments. They are now on the UK Red List of threatened species.

Come and discover more about these fascinating birds, why they are in decline, and the simple actions communities and householders can take to help their numbers recover — from protecting existing nest sites to installing swift boxes and creating more wildlife-friendly spaces.