Swifts are long-distance migrants that depend on old buildings for nesting. Their welfare is affected by building renovation, climate change, and insect decline in equal measure.
Swifts that lose nesting sites due to building renovation face a welfare crisis — they are philopatric (returning to the same nesting site year after year) and may attempt to return to a sealed entrance for multiple seasons before abandoning the effort. Renovation without swift surveys during breeding season directly destroys active nests with eggs or chicks. Grounded swifts — birds that have landed accidentally and cannot take off — require immediate intervention to prevent death from dehydration and exhaustion. Insect decline due to pesticide use and intensification reduces food availability during the critical breeding season, causing chick starvation.