Swift Metric Attention
Here's a metric. As used by campaigner for what when I was school was heralded the world's fastest bird, the swift.
I came across doughty Hannah Bourne-Taylor as she secured a particular victory for her favoured feathered friends [see foot]. For it seems they've called the British Isles home long before mankind. Nesting in trees, which we then chopped down. When we built dwellings, they availed themselves of the many nooks and crannies such construction often incorporated. Nowadays, these all too often go avoided or repaired. Not only markedly reducing habitat options, but also on occasion fatally entombing young.
A podcast ad above shows one of her flagstone metrics;
50% of the swift population has been lost since the 1990s.
Aimed to elicit response, does it with you?
It is a stark number. The starting place for her campaigning. Our Proposals would do well to begin from similar standpoint.
In this specific case, she selects the percentage. I'm not usually a fan of that. A hard number ought be better. Monetary amount, time, figures involving people.
Her alternative could be simply saying that the flock had halved. Would that work better in this case, though? The style of 'one in two' disappeared could also work.
Sticking with the '50' rather than 'half', your number ought be the punch at the end of the sentence.
This isn't always practical, but it allows you verbally to repeat it as well as enabling neat highlighting techniques on page or screen. If they're not enough, consider how you feel about the 'last thing' power. As in, the final word(s) spoken is the only one heard.
Re-formatting options here might give us;
Swift numbers since the 90s have halved.
I'd always try put the 'subject' first. Here with timeframe next. Then impact as ending.
You could amplify the metric hit too;
Swift populations since the 1990s have plummeted 50%.
Not merely half down. I've always liked the McLaughlin Group framing (as I found in the 90s) with the movement of things being binary as either plummet or soar.
Beyond this, when I searched on 'uk swift population decline', the commonplace result was 'Population Change, 68% decrease, 1995 to 2023'. Even more alarming than the campaigner stated.
For this would mean for every ten swifts in 1995, only about three remained by 2023. That's a good way of framing the decline. Also allowing the '2 of every 3 now gone' treatment. If you needed to delve deeper into the figures, the remaining population numbered 59,000.
More evocative language can come in; vanished, lost, slashed & in freefall.
Sometimes, seasoned sellers like to headline their metric. Examples for this here might include;
Swifts Are Crashing
Catastrophic Collapse
Grim Reality
Time Is Running Out
Hannah's metric got her 'swift bricks' as mandatory for new builds. An action desired. Does yours?
Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously!
— Hannah Bourne-Taylor (@WriterHannahBT) January 27, 2026
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE @markruskell ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing PlanningPolicyConsultation@communities.gov.uk now!WOOP! pic.twitter.com/tiZLvznFNk