Swifts are in trouble. If you make a small donation, we can buy materials to build a nestbox that could provide a home for a pair of these beautiful and impressive birds for years to come. Every £10 covers the cost of materials for one nestbox.

All nestboxes are built by volunteers in the York area and many are installed by myself.

Swifts are a charismatic bird, one of the sounds of a British summer in our villages, towns and cities but are disappearing. Fast.

Why are they declining? They are starving as their airborne insect prey is vanishing due to the overuse of pesticides in the countryside. Swifts return from Africa each spring and can't find places to nest, as new houses have no eaves and older houses are renovated.

But there is a simple solution to one of these problems! Any you can help.

We can help them by putting up nestboxes. In the last three years we have installed 50 nestboxes in the York area, each one providing a home to a family of Swifts.

We now hope to build more to meet the welcome demand, but need to raise some cash to buy the plywood, varnish and screws to make the boxes.

If you've received a box, please consider a donation to help build the next one. If you'd like one in the future, please help us raise the money to build the next batch. Email recorder@yorkbirding.org.uk and we will add your name to the waiting list for a box.

You can follow our progress on Twitter - give us a follow! @York_Swifts

Thank you!

Jono Leadley, York Swifts