A PUBLIC meeting has been organised in Talybont to appeal to residents to help the local swift population.

Residents of the villages in Ceulanmaesmawr are being asked to help with the survival of the endgangered swift - Gwennol Ddu in Welsh - which herald the arrival of summer every year as they return to the area and can often be seen on warm summer evenings in groups circling and screaming above Talybont Village green.

Swifts spend most of their lives on the wing and only land when they commence the nesting period in spring and summer.

They do not start to breed until they are several years old, and will often not have landed until they find their first nest site and a partner to breed with.

They nest in gaps under the eaves of houses and any cavities and holes that might provide a suitable nest site for them, preferring village locations to isolated buildings. Swifts have shared our buildings ever since the Romans came to Britain and the deforestation of the British Isles was underway.

Before the widespread loss of ancient forests and old-growth woodland, Swifts would have nested in holes in trees; it is only relatively recently (since around the Roman period) that they have moved to nesting in our buildings.

Swifts only spend around four months with us and migrate to the Congo and sub-equatorial Africa for the rest of the year, their epic migratory feat taking them via France, Spain, Morocco and all of West Africa.

But unfortunately, these birds are in trouble – they have undergone a 58 per cent decline in their UK population from 1969 to 2018, and this places Swifts on the Red List of species threatened with extinction.

The loss of places for them to nest is one of the key factors causing this decline, with new house builds often lacking any sites for them to use as nest cavities, and with changes such as such as draught exclusion further reducing the availability of nesting sites.

Swift box
Swift boxes around the village are one way to help protect the birds (Mick Green)

Project organiser, Mick Green said: “And this is where we can all get involved - we have to help them survive.

“One thing any householder with a suitable building can do is to provide a nest box for them. These boxes are placed high on the gables of houses and provide a safe nesting space for Swifts to use in the breeding season.”

Mick added: “We are very grateful to Gareth Pritchard, Landlord at the White Lion, who has kindly let us erect two Swift boxes on the gable of the pub.”

These can be seen above the car park – high up on the wall and painted white to blend in.

If you’re interested in helping Swifts and housing boxes on your property, we are holding a drop-in session at the White Lion, Talybont on Saturday 28 January from 12 am to 3 pm where you can come and find out more, see if your house is suitable and find out about obtaining a box or two.