The swifts at Sundholm arrive every year around 10th May and fill the sky  with swooping and screaming until  they are suddenly gone by late august. Each pair mates for life, returning to the same nest after flying from West Africa.

The swifts know our neighbourhood better than we do – just from  a different perspective. They are also threatened, as renovations remove the nooks they need to build their nests.

We decided to welcome the swifts back by creating small figures made from hair and beeswax – that the swifts and other spring birds could use for their nests.

The figures used hair from horses, camels, musk-ox, sheep and goats, symbolically weaving together offerings from humans and other species. 

Of course swifts eat a lot of bees and other insects  and they are welcome to them. We hope that by welcoming the swifts, we create another small celebration that reminds us  city people to create a rich ecology of plants and ponds in local landscapes.