The speakers will broadcast the sound of a swift attraction call, in the hope of encouraging young birds looking for their first nest site, to breed in the nest boxes that were fixed to the tower last year.
In addition to the sound system, a number of cameras will enable the team to monitor nest box use to support conservation and will allow the public the opportunity to see hidden wildlife.
Michael Corkhill, Maintenance Supervisor at Durham Cathedral said,
“Conservation and caring for nature is an important aspect of what we do at Durham Cathedral, so last year we we’re delighted to be able to install the swift boxes to help these endangered animals. With the addition of the sound system to attract the birds, we are hoping to encourage the colonisation of our nest boxes for the first time, and with the new monitoring devices we will also be able to track their progress. We are grateful for the funding from local businessman and swift enthusiast Edward Twiddy who has made this project possible.”
Swifts are distinguishable by their dark colour and fast, wheeling flight pattern. They spend most of their life on the wing, only coming inland to breed in the UK from early May.
They can be identified apart from swallows who have fork tales and house martins who are black and white in colour.
The swift is one of 70 birds on the UK Red List for Birds, which means they are in severe decline. It is thought that poor summer weather, a decline in food sources and a loss of suitable nesting sites have contributed to swifts reaching this critical conservation status.
Collaboration between individuals and institutions is vital to the success of ecological projects, so the cathedral is pursuing this project in collaboration with a range of local stakeholders including Edward Twiddy of Atom Bank, who generously funded the installation of Swift boxes, and several academics, including Professor Stephen Willis, Director of Research in the Department of Biosciences at Durham University.
Edward Twiddy said,
“The sound and sight of swifts is an icon of summer. Their presence in the City sends a noisy and spectacular reminder that life returns each spring, but across the UK and much of Europe fewer and fewer of these tireless trans-continental visitors have been returning to raise the next generation. Needing little more than healthy insect populations and somewhere to nest, their demise should send a clear warning about what we are doing to the world around us.”
He continues,
“The cathedral is already home to many wonderful bird and bat species that enjoy the sanctuary of the towers and the cloisters; helping the swifts to come back year after year from Africa to find perfect nesting conditions felt like a small but right thing to do.”
The Belfry Tower at Durham Cathedral is a great location for swifts to nest as it is secluded, and the ingress points are small enough to exclude birds of prey. The custom nest boxes, made to fit the architecture of the building by the cathedral’s joiners, were fitted last year, and contain multiple chambers inside with small platforms which breeding swifts seem to favour.
We hope that the new technology being installed this week will help to speed up the colonisation of swifts in the tower and help to boost the population of this iconic bird. As it can take years to establish a swift colony, this is a long-term investment in the cathedrals environmental infrastructure and the biodiversity of Durham's UNESCO World Heritage Site.
