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angle-left Hope Street's new Swift Tower

Hope Street's new Swift Tower

May 11, 2017
A new home for Swifts, a Swift tower, has been erected at CEMEX’s busy Asphalt Plant in Hope Street, Manchester to encourage this charismatic bird to come and colonise. Over the coming weeks, Swifts will be returning to our towns and cities and are a quintessential sign of the British summer. Swifts are the perfect house guest. They are only in the UK for three months of the year; make no mess when nesting and help get rid of flying insects and mosquitoes. Sadly, their numbers have been rapidly declining, due in part it is thought, to the lack of homes in our urban environments. The new Swift tower could help provide a home for the Swifts.  Standing over 6ft high the new tower incorporates a ‘caller’, a pre-recorded sound of a Swift’s call that plays at dusk and dawn to encourage new occupants to move in. “I’m sure our new tower will be a great home for any Swifts coming to Manchester and, hopefully over the coming years, they will make our Plant their UK destination. There’s nothing like seeing and hearing Swifts soar over rooftops on a summer’s evening. They are amazing birds and one of the fastest flying birds in the world,” commented Phil Repton, Hope Street Plant Manager. The photo shows Phil and Jenny Oldroyd, our RSPB Biodiversity Manager.

A new home for Swifts, a Swift tower, has been erected at CEMEX’s busy Asphalt Plant in Hope Street, Manchester to encourage this charismatic bird to come and colonise. Over the coming weeks, Swifts will be returning to our towns and cities and are a quintessential sign of the British summer. Swifts are the perfect house guest. They are only in the UK for three months of the year; make no mess when nesting and help get rid of flying insects and mosquitoes. Sadly, their numbers have been rapidly declining, due in part it is thought, to the lack of homes in our urban environments. The new Swift tower could help provide a home for the Swifts.  Standing over 6ft high the new tower incorporates a ‘caller’, a pre-recorded sound of a Swift’s call that plays at dusk and dawn to encourage new occupants to move in. “I’m sure our new tower will be a great home for any Swifts coming to Manchester and, hopefully over the coming years, they will make our Plant their UK destination. There’s nothing like seeing and hearing Swifts soar over rooftops on a summer’s evening. They are amazing birds and one of the fastest flying birds in the world,” commented Phil Repton, Hope Street Plant Manager. The photo shows Phil and Jenny Oldroyd, our RSPB Biodiversity Manager.