23 April 24 Last October we held a Zoom meeting to discuss how sparrows are in need of nesting sites. House sparrows are on the red list of endangered birds and in an effort to help, we have used some of our Co-op Community Funding to buy bird boxes for the front of houses in Brentford. Sparrows need greenery, for protection and for insects, so the idea is to also green up our front gardens to encourage them to nest. This improves air quality locally and provides green corridors of our streets. Thanks so much to the Co-op for this funding and to neighbours who sanded and varnished the plywood boxes and have helped install them too. Take a look at the video we made and read more about the project here.
We bought 5 Woodstone sparrow boxes and 14 of the plywood sparrow terrace boxes. You will see them up on the front of houses on Avenue Road, Latewood Road, Brook Road South, Orchard Road, Hamilton Road, York Road, Layton Road, South Ealing Road and Braemar Road. Sparrows nest several times each year, so there is still time for feathery tenants to move in. We could potentially buy a second round of boxes, if you are interested in having one on the front of your house and greening your front garden, do get in touch with us.
We bought the bird boxes from CJ Birdfoods. They have an amazing livestream of nesting boxes for different types owl and birds of prey in Holland which is quite entertaining. It’s in partnership with Beleef de Lente Project, courtesy of their Dutch partner Vogelbescherming. Currently one of the three Tawney Owl chicks has fledged and those remaining in the nest are being well fed in preparation for their own future ventures.
We also purchased a swift nesting box but haven’t yet found a location for it. If you know of a public facing space, high up and with a free flight path in to the nest, then let us know.
Air Quality Brentford 