Village community bird box project takes wing

Bird-loving villagers are being invited to help a new community bird box scheme take wing.

Calstock Parish Council is inviting residents to get involved in a new bird box initiative this winter, aimed at supporting local bird populations and bringing nature closer to home.

The scheme is part of the council’s wider work to encourage residents to engage with nature and enrich the parish’s bird life, increasing the number of bird visitors and the variety.

The Calstock council environment committee will launch the initiative on Sunday, November 15 between 11am to 2pm at the Community Cake Café in Calstock Village Hall. Everyone is welcome to attend to find out more about how to take part. The event will include a demonstration of several different bird box designs and applications. No booking is required.

Andrew Brown, of Harrowbarrow, is passionate about wildlife and conservation (he formed the B4 project supporting the native black honey bee).

As parish council environment committee non-voting member, he said: “The scheme will reinforce existing colonies of swifts, swallows and house martens, with specialist box designs. Residents are encouraged to report existing nesting sites of these species through members of the Calstock parish environment committee with help from the parish clerk.”

There are several ways for residents to join in. Some boxes will be fully funded and installed by the council, including swift boxes at Calstock Arts. Others will be partially funded, with the council supplying materials while volunteers assemble them and householders install them.

Andrew, whose own smallholding is a wildlife haven, said: “The aim of the initiative is to move residents from being bystanders to active participants in nature recovery. Everyone is welcome to come along on Sunday to find out more, get involved, and help make Calstock a place where people and wildlife flourish together.”

Residents can also receive guidance and criteria to buy and install boxes independently. The council will provide a list of recommended box designs for different species, based on British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) advice.

Guidance for the project draws on established advice, including the BTO Nest Box Guide by Chris du Feu and Wildlife Watch, ‘how to make a bird box’ instructions.

These emphasise practical considerations such as appropriate entrance hole sizes for different species, siting boxes away from direct sunlight and out of reach of predators, and ensuring boxes are well-constructed and properly maintained. Boxes should be cleaned out annually after the breeding season, and repairs made as needed.

The bird box project is in the council’s wider nature engagement and biodiversity action plan, within its environment and climate emergency strategy. The strategy aims to restore nature, reduce harm and improve health and wellbeing. By developing understanding and empathy for nature, the council will work with Calstock residents to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change and increases in biting insects.

The council is also exploring longer-term aspirations, including developing a sand martin wall in partnership with Tamar National Landscape and continue working with schools and community groups to raise awareness of the importance of nesting habitats.