Electronic bird call has been installed in Honiton by the district council in a bid to encourage swifts to nest at its headquarters.
The sound of a swift call is being emitted from a Devon council’s headquarters to encourage the birds to nest at the site, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.
A Tweeet box, an electronic device, has been attached to an outbuilding at East Devon District Council’s Honiton-based offices to alert swifts to the swift boxes recently installed there.
The device can be programmed to make the calls at the optimum time so that it will be heard by the birds, with the hope it encourages them to nest in the swift boxes.
Councillor Jess Bailey (Independent, West Hill & Aylesbeare) said the Tweeet devices were “really important”.
“They indicate to other swifts that there are nesting opportunities and it makes it easier for them to find the swift boxes,” she said.
“We knew there were swifts in Honiton already and so these audio boxes are really to alert those and other swifts that there are places to nest in the town, which is key as we know the lack of nesting opportunities is a major reason behind the decline in swifts here.”
Pictured here is Councillor Jess Bailey (centre) with the Tweeet box to lure swifts.
Photo: Bradley Gerrard/LDRS.
Cllr Bailey, who has been supported in her efforts by fellow councillors Cllr Paula Fernley (Green Party, Broadclyst) and Cllr Marianne Rixson (Liberal Democrat, Sidmouth Sidford) added she was inspired after visiting Honiton’s Beehive, a community building, where she saw swift boxes and wanted to install them on the council’s building.
“I knew swifts are massively in decline and under threat and I hate the thought of them making huge journeys and then not having the opportunity to rest or breed,” Cllr Bailey said.
She added she was also trying to encourage the council to increase the number of plants around the council building, to help increase the prevalence of insects, that themselves provide much-needed food for the swifts.
Cllr Bailey previously successfully proposed a motion for East Devon to install bird and bat boxes on its headquarters after finding they weren’t already there in spite of being a condition of the planning permission for Blackdown House.
The council said last year that its health and safety team and external consultants had noted “significant health and safety concerns” with the notion of attaching boxes to the building when it was being constructed.
It said it had put 21 swift boxes elsewhere on other sites it owns and was looking at putting some on its Blackdown House and Exeter Road sites.
