The "Frankfurt Swift Initiative" is an association of various independent organisations united by their interest in actively helping Common Swifts in the greater Frankfurt/Main area.
Besides NABU and BUND, its members include the Staatliche Vogelschutzwarte (State Bird Conservation Station), the Zoological Society of Frankfurt and the German Association for the Protection of Common Swifts.
The aim is to record and preserve existing nesting sites and to create new ones.
Further information and the annual reports can be found on the NABU page of the Swift Initiative.
by Ingolf Grabow
In Frankfurt-Niederrad, in the Mainfeld area, there is a group of high-rise residential buildings from the 1970s with up to 20 storeys. In the adjacent old district of Niederrad there are a great many swifts, including in the rented flats dating from the Ernst May era. Michael L. asked our initiative: does it make any sense to settle swifts on the 14th floor?
He told us that the swifts' fast flights very often took place directly in front of his balcony. That encouraged us to give it a try.
Between the concrete parapet and the tubular railing there is a clear gap of only 17 cm. The box therefore turned out rather flat, with
an internal height of just 13.5 cm. We used 15 mm thick coated plywood only for the roof and the back wall. The boxes were fixed to the square tubing with custom-made stainless steel clamps and wedged firmly in place with furniture wedges.
After the swifts' breeding season the boxes can easily be taken down.
The back walls of the boxes are easy to open. The internal floor area of 31x20 cm offers enough room for the young birds to develop.
Using a CD player, Michael L. intends to play the swift calls "sri, sri, sri" to lure the swifts flying past "into the nest".
We are curious to see whether it will work to turn swifts into high-rise residents.
Update of 12 June: it worked. Clear nestling sounds can be heard from two of the boxes.
