Swifts are in disastrous decline in Britain—perhaps simply because
roofs are in better nick these days, denying the birds these desirable nesting
sites. So says Chris Mead in his outstanding guide to The State of the
Nation’s Birds. But there’s hope ahead. With the right design, the icon of
a British summer could easily switch from parties of swifts screaming around the
ancient church tower to gatherings round the supermarkets—just like their
human neighbours. Published by Whittey Books, £12.99, ISBN 1873580452.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Environment
How Rachel Carson's Silent Spring changed the world in 1962
Culture
ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ
New Scientist recommends a deep dive into our organs by Giulia Enders
Culture
Humans
Alice Roberts: 'We are fundamentally, at the end of the day, animals'
Culture
Comment
The best new popular science books of June 2026
Culture
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Mysterious ‘cold blob’ in the Atlantic suggests the AMOC is weakening
2
Why we should all take quantum physics extremely personally
3
Dinosaur-killing asteroid impact site stayed hot for millions of years
4
The last-ditch plan to save coral reefs from utter destruction
5
A chromosome from a frozen rat has been resurrected inside mice
6
Escher: The paradoxical artist beloved by mathematicians
7
Q-Day could destroy bitcoin – and our retirement savings
8
What really happened when ancient humans migrated out of Africa
9
A golden age of maths is dawning and mathematicians are freaking out
10
You could get some of the benefits of sleep without having to nod off
