gb supp 2018 (1)
HOUSE MARTIN Like the House Sparrow and Swift, the House Martin’s nests are nearly always on human buildings. Unlike the former two species, though, they don’t require cavities in roof spaces, but just an overhanging eave or similar on which to build their dome-like mud nest. SPRING ANTICS House Martins nest in loose colonies, often near where there is plenty of easily accessible soft mud for nest-building. In spring, you can see them gathering gobbets of mud from the edge of muddy pools etc., to plaster onto the wall. It can take a week or two to make a nest. NEST TYPE Although they prefer sites near to accessible mud supplies, House Martins will also take to ready-made House Martin nestboxes, placed under eaves. How you can help COLLARED DOVE Gracing UK’s suburbs and rural communities since arriving naturally in the 1950s, the Collared Dove is now ubiquitous and common across the whole of the country. SPRING ANTICS Males produce the three-note cooing song, often for extended periods. Pairs may ‘bill and coo’ and bow to the other prior to mating. Twigs are gathered to build the nest. NEST TYPE Collared Dove nests are among the most flimsy and pathetic-looking structures, being rather loose associations of twigs. May be concealed within a tree (eg a leylandii), but often reasonably obvious! Mark Bretherton/Alamy* Put up nestboxes. Encourage your neighbours to welcome House Martins and under no circumstances put up those terrible spikes some people place under their eaves to stop House Martin ‘mess’! How you can help Try not to disturb nesting Collared Doves and certainly don’t trim their nesting trees, during the breeding season. Keep an eye on your local pair and work out where they are trying to nest; then leave them space. Keep feeding garden birds. Buiten-Beeld/Alamy 12 Create the Perfect Bird Garden 2018
GREAT TIT The ubiquitous Great Tit is one of our most familiar garden birds, as well as one of the easiest to attract to gardens to nest. SPRING ANTICS Males can be told from females in being slightly brighter in colour and with a black belly stripe which is wide and reaches down to the lower belly. The female's is narrower and it fizzles out on the belly. In spring, males produce a variety of repetitive ‘two-note’ songs roughly transcribed as ‘teacher teacher’. NEST TYPE Great Tits nest in cavities in trees and readily take to nestboxes with a hole front (diameter of hole: 28mm). They will also nest in any concealed hole they can find and get into. How you can help STARLING The Starling is another bird which has undergone dramatic national population declines in the UK, but is still going strong in some areas. SPRING ANTICS Males (pale blue base to bill; female’s have a paler, pinker bill base) sing their incredible songs in spring. Full of clicks, mimicry and wizardry, the complex song sounds like more than one bird must be producing it. Often sung from a rooftop or aerial. Starlings gather ‘straw’ and other material to build the nest which is within a cavity. NEST TYPE Starlings nest ‘colonially’ in roof spaces and holes in trees etc., or in open fronted nestboxes, even taking over ones provided for Swifts! Genevieve Vallee/Alamy* Put up suitable nest boxes. As with other garden birds, Great Tits respond well to extra feeding, throughout the year, not just the winter. Don't feed them on foods such as stale bread, though. How you can help Put out suitable nest boxes. Keep feeding your garden birds. Traditionally, Starlings were regarded as 'bullies' of the bird table. But with hugely declining numbers, remember that even these garrulous garden birds need a bit of help. Mats Lindberg/Alamy * birdwatching.co.uk 13
- Page 1 and 2: IN ASSOCIATION WITH CREATE THE PERF
- Page 3 and 4: WELCOME incamerastock/Alamy After w
- Page 5 and 6: WILDLIFE- FRIENDLY GARDENING in spr
- Page 7 and 8: AUGUST Shrubs and trees come into t
- Page 9 and 10: DO YOU LIKE TO FEED THE BIRDS? You
- Page 11: HOUSE SPARROW The abundant, ubiquit
- Page 15 and 16: DUNNOCK The unobtrusive Dunnock is
- Page 17 and 18: 1 MAKE A BEE HOTEL Help our pollina
- Page 19 and 20: NEST BOX AND FEEDER CAMERA SYSTEM A
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HOUSE MARTIN<br />
Like the House Sparrow and Swift, the<br />
House Martin’s nests are nearly always<br />
on human buildings. Unlike the former<br />
two species, though, they don’t require<br />
cavities in roof spaces, but just an<br />
overhanging eave or similar on which<br />
to build their dome-like mud nest.<br />
SPRING ANTICS<br />
House Martins nest in loose colonies,<br />
often near where there is plenty of easily<br />
accessible soft mud for nest-building. In<br />
spring, you can see them gathering<br />
gobbets of mud from the edge of muddy<br />
pools etc., to plaster onto the wall. It can<br />
take a week or two to make a nest.<br />
NEST TYPE<br />
Although they prefer sites near to<br />
accessible mud <strong>supp</strong>lies, House Martins<br />
will also take to ready-made House<br />
Martin nestboxes, placed under eaves.<br />
How you can help<br />
COLLARED<br />
DOVE<br />
Gracing UK’s suburbs and rural<br />
communities since arriving naturally in<br />
the 1950s, the Collared Dove is now<br />
ubiquitous and common across the whole<br />
of the country.<br />
SPRING ANTICS<br />
Males produce the three-note cooing<br />
song, often for extended periods. Pairs<br />
may ‘bill and coo’ and bow to the other<br />
prior to mating. Twigs are gathered to<br />
build the nest.<br />
NEST TYPE<br />
Collared Dove nests are among the most<br />
flimsy and pathetic-looking structures,<br />
being rather loose associations of twigs.<br />
May be concealed within a tree (eg a<br />
leylandii), but often reasonably obvious!<br />
Mark Bretherton/Alamy*<br />
Put up nestboxes. Encourage your<br />
neighbours to welcome House Martins<br />
and under no circumstances put up those<br />
terrible spikes some people place under<br />
their eaves to stop House Martin ‘mess’!<br />
How you can help<br />
Try not to disturb nesting Collared Doves<br />
and certainly don’t trim their nesting trees,<br />
during the breeding season. Keep an eye<br />
on your local pair and work out where they<br />
are trying to nest; then leave them space.<br />
Keep feeding garden birds.<br />
Buiten-Beeld/Alamy<br />
12 Create the Perfect Bird Garden <strong>2018</strong>
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