Birds nesting in Towers and bell chambers
  • Richard Norman
    13
    What are others views of encouraging birds to nest in towers, steeples and specifically bell chambers?
    I have a bad experience in one steeple where it could not be secured from their entry and we had mainly crows and pigeons nesting such that we had to clear out the nests (sticks) and other nesting materials and also the carcasses every year.
    My current tower has louvres and bird proof (so far) chicken wire over the openings but the crows had a real go this year. They have very powerful beaks and I can see where they have successfully bent tho not yet broken the wire! They left a real mess of sticks at the foot of the tower as well
    We now have the swift project wanting to come and inspect WAVT letting swifts in.
    I do not object indeed at home I encourage (unrelated) house martins who have nested in our stables here and in little barn at our previous. home. However I do have problems with encouraging any birds or bats to nest in with my bells.
    With most of them the mess but I do know that swifts, defecating mostly on the wing, are cleaner than any of the others.
    I believe that we would be better encouraging our congregation to install swift bricks; the church is built of stone and does not have deep eaves in any direction so …
    I do not believe that it will happen but I wonder what others think?
    All best
    Richard Norman Options
  • Phillip George
    90
    It is important for the fabric of the church to be protected from pest ingress. This includes birds. Bird ingress can lead to damage to the fabric and clock/bell installations, significant costs in cleaning and can adversly affect human health. The problem should be taken to the PCC which has responsibility for the fabric and environment of the church. The challenge that PCCs and congregations have is to understand the value of the assets in the tower.They have no idea and generally only see it from the outside!
    Phillip George Options
  • Alison Hodge
    151
    Correctly made and installed swift boxes should prevent the swifts (and other birds) from accessing the tower interior so the bell installation will not be affected. The boxes are accessible by the swifts from the exterior and totally enclosed on the tower interior.

    Look at the item and pictures here - https://belfryupkeep.cccbr.org.uk/docs/020-permissions/
    Alison Hodge Options
  • Peter Sotheran
    131
    The top of our tower, the clock and bells were destroyed by fire when a mass of nesting material caught fire on Easter Day 1902.
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    Peter Sotheran Options
  • Mike Shelley
    38
    Having used full industrial quality PPE to remove 2.77cuM of nest materials, guano, eggshells and dead pigeons etc from a tower nearly 30 years ago I was certainly upset to be without PPE when I was accidentally exposed in 2020 to a cloud of such stuff that had remained undisturbed in a tower for 25+ years. Nearly 4 years later I'm still under a hospital respiratory department because, during sleep, my blood oxygen level falls off a cliff and that syndrome, through whatever cause, is often fatal to men over 60yoa. Birds have no place inside any area accessible to bell-ringers and other non-professionals.
    Mike Shelley Options
  • Richard Pargeter
    22
    Alison has the right answer here. Birds loose in the tower are a bad idea, but nest boxes with external entrances only are not a problem, and swifts need all the help we can give them.
    Richard Pargeter Options
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