Nest Defence Calls

[hythescream]

Thats a very interesting point Edward.

Would you please point us in the direction of the correct files, and share your curated list of "nest defence" sounds?

This is a critical part of getting new sites established quickly. I have been playing all sorts of stuff at stadium volume!. They are certainly attracted. The first time I ever set it up, they were in my garden within an hour of first trying. But if some of the sounds scare them off too, or give out the wrong message, we should all be fixing this quickly as the bangers are coming imminently.

We are told to keep playing the sounds, even after one box has been discovered, so we don't want to be playing things that they read as threatening. It might make them uneasy and put them off staying.

Is anyone else aware of this potential problem, or have the correct files available for us all to use/upgrade?

Thank you

Ron

On Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 4:20:19 PM UTC+1 Edward Mayer - Swift Conservation wrote:

One needs to be careful exactly which swift calls are used. In general only nest defence calls work to attract swifts. Ones that one finds on the internet may not be these and may not work so well.

[Tony Croft]

I'm using the ones that came with the Peak Boxes caller...does anyone know if these are okay?

Best Regards

Tony

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[Hythe Scream]

Hopefully Edward will elucidate on this issue shortly. 

It made me think, because we all use sounds from different sources, but we don't speak "swift". Some of the sounds could mean "watch out there's a peregrine just around the corner". If it's known how to translate some of these calls, then we should get this right. Lives are at risk! We now know why the swift population has been in decline, so everything we do to improve it should be carried out to the best of our ability. 

I had seen no swifts in my area for ten years. An hour after playing their sounds, they were in my garden at head height. That's how important it is to get this right. We don't want to attract them just to join the party though, we want them to be attracted to empty boxes and to make them feel safe to move in. That's a different thing. 

A bit of research suggests that you need to play loud "party" sounds to bring swifts down from higher up to check out the party scene. Once within range of your boxes, the sound known as "nest defence" tells a prospecting swift that there's an occupied nest in the colony that's being defended, so the location must be already occupied, and a trustworthy one to join. They will expect occupied nests to be defended, and will look to move in next door. This suggests that two sets of sounds might need to be played, one loud "party" call, pointing up into the air, and a "nest defence" call near, but NOT from the inside of an empty box (as that would show occupation), but to show that the existing community is thriving, with possible vacancies!

Whether this is total nonsense is anyone's guess, but I hope we can get a clear answer to this. Some of us will like to do the job properly, and the more effective the sounds are, the quicker we can get the population to rise.

Ron

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[Mike Priaulx]

Hi Tony/ all,

Yes both Peak Boxes and Swift Conservation calls have been proved to work.

We've been using the latest Peak Boxes calls (which are irregular with pauses) at our site in Harrow, as the residents have a Peak Boxes calls system, and birds were attracted immediately and entering the boxes within a month (it's a replacement project, hence the fast results, which I'll post more about very soon).

The Swift Conservation calls have worked equally well too on many sites, these are more regular. I like these, others prefer the irregular ones. Swifts like both, it seems!

All the best,

Mike

Islington and Hackney Swifts Groups

+++

 

 Nest Defence Calls

Tony Croft <the.cro...@gmail.com>: Jun 02 05:25PM +0100

[Alistair]

If you have the time and inclination yes refining the calls may help but playing the calls works….Plenty on Xeno canto that can be downloaded and played.

The best one Ive heard is a bird call tape so you can learn the calls being used this was at least 10 years ago.  It went on  a cycle a human voice saying "The Swifts!” Followed by dueting swifts!  They came and the rest is history….

All the best

Alistair 

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[Paul Stevens]

I have been using the peak boxes caller file extensively and it works like a dream.

Lots of box take ups and interest.

Paul

On Tue, 2 Jun 2026 at 17:26, Tony Croft <the.cro...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Tony Croft]

Whoopee!  Tonight one pair have gone into a box together in the midst of a rain storm! They haven't come out so the Peak Box calls do work as we suspect another pair are in a lower box too.

Can't believe we may have 2 pairs after 4 years with no returns and no interest...so this is a wonderful evening and cheered us up...

Thank you to Jools Partridge and Leicestershire County Council for providing the caller and 2 extra Peak boxes giving us 7 boxes in our little colony now....

Can't say how exciting this is for us....we love our swifts. 

 When we moved in nearly 50 years ago now we had to replace the Telephonr rotten facia boards and had found nesting debris in the loft thinking it was Starlings!  Then the swifts came back "banging" at the new facia boards!  So a hasty order for 2 double Swegler boxes was placed, put up and occupied within minutes...

4 years ago we suddenly had no returns until this week!

Best Regards
Tony & Anne

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