A developer will install more than 200 bird boxes in housing developments across the county this year.

David Wilson Homes and Barratt Homes are installing custom-designed swift bricks in the Ryebank Gate development in Yapton, near Arundel, and the Ecclesden Park development in Angmering.

The swift brick, designed in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), will be installed into each of the homes at the developments.

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Each swift brick and separate bird box will replicate the typical narrow spaces swifts frequently choose for their nests each year.

The swifts will return to the habitats each year, which will help them nest safely and make sure they do not become endangered.

Swifts, which are currently on the red list of conservation concerns, migrate around 3,400 miles from Africa to the UK twice a year to breed from April until September.

They can be tracked on the Swift Mapper platform, which was created by RSPB, the Swift Local Network and the charity Action for Swifts.

This means people can record swift activity and their nesting sites.

They will be installed in new homes across the developments (Image: David Wilson Homes and Barratt Homes)

The housebuilders are encouraging future homeowners at the developments to use this platform when they move in.

Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes have also signed up to a new initiative to support wildlife on their new developments.

The Homes for Nature commitment will see a bird-nesting brick or box installed for every new home built, as well as hedgehog highways created as standard on every new development taken through planning from September.

Alex Dowling, the sales and marketing director at Barratt David Wilson Southern Counties, said: "As we continue to build new homes across the South, it is important we incorporate effective ways to protect wildlife at our developments.

"With over 233 bird boxes at Ryebank Gate and Ecclesden Park, we are proud to protect nature and create safe habitats for swifts to use in the long term."