Hi,
A few months ago, I was very pleased to discover a pair of house sparrows nesting beneath the very edge of my roof tiles. Sadly, upon flying the nest, only one of the fledglings made it and survived. To my surprised delight and barely weeks after the last fledgling had flown, it would appear that another breeding pair of house sparrows have started to rebuild the nest.
The only problem is, the letting agents whom I rent the property through have said that they intend to come out and repair two slipped roof tiles. Whilst these roof tiles are a good 10-12ft away from the nesting site, I am very concerned that the noise and physical presence of the workmen might scare off the house sparrows who are busy trying to build their nest.
Can anyone tell me the likelihood of these birds being disturbed, should the repair work commence. I am hopeful that the 10ft distance might be far enough away to cause minimal disruption. However, having never seen roof tiles being replaced before, I have no idea how long the job will take.
When the agents phoned to say they were going to commence the repair work, they did so jsut after the last fledgling had flown and so I agreed to them coming out. I did point out that if they had tried to do the work earlier, I would have said no becuase of the active nest. During this conversation, I quoted the wildlife and countryside act and that they were legally obliged not to interfere with the birds. My remarks were met with great displeasure and the agents argued and said that only certain birds were protected. I refused to back down and said that they were misinformed because the act protects an active nest of any wild bird.
My current predicament is that the nest is active again and the agents have said they're going to come and do the work over the next few weeks. Because I am a mere tenant and not the homeowner, i feel powerless to stop them.
Does anyone out there have answers to the following?
1) Do you think replacing missing roof tiles might disturb the birds (i.e. how sensitive are they to the movements of the workmen) Repair work is approx 10-12 ft away from nest builing site.
2) Would their work be classified as disturbing an active nest and therefore illegal?
3) Any general advice on what to do would be most welcome.
Thanks for your help.
Sarah
Hi Sarah.Welcome to the forums. I'm not sure if the noise from the workmen will actually disturb the house sparrows but I'd imagine a problem could arise if their flight paths are blocked off. I'd like to be of more help but sadly I'm sort of guessing here. One thing I can tell you is that all birds are protected by law, so the agents are wrong to say only certain birds are protected. If there's any chance of the work disturbing nesting birds it should be postponed until the fleglings have left the nest. The Agents should also be aware that house sparrows are a red list species and therefore of greatest conservation concern. Sorry I can't be of more help.Paul.
Warning! This post contains atrocious spelling, and terrible grammar. Approach with extreme edginess.
Hi Sarah,
From my experience house sparrows are pretty tolerant, but then it could just be a particularly tolerant colony! My aunt has a permanent colony that remain all year round on her house that nest in the eves above the oil tank and the men with the big noisy truck and machine have to come and fill it, there is literally just a paving stone between the colony and the tank and the sparrows nest maybe 7 feet up at the lowest, not to mention all the normal comings and goings plus a couple of trees that had to be removed (outside the breeding season of course) as the roots were starting to damage the foundations of the house. As long as the workmen aren't climbing up to the roof by crossing the colony and blocking access I don't think it will matter but it does depend on how used to people the colony is.
It may be worth getting someone to take a look at where the colony is and where the work needs to be done to get a better judgement as to the likehood of the birds being disturbed though. Also ensure you remind any workmen about the presence of the nests and the fact that they are protected from disturbance!
Kat
Millie & Fly the Border Collies
Dear Paul and Kat,
Thanks for your replies. Having read your advice, I feel a little more reassured that the sparrows wont be disturbed becaus the work is merely to replace two roof tiles which lie a good 10-12ft away from the nest. I suppose I was most concerned about the noise the men would make and their physcal presence with regard to the sensitivity of the birds - I didn't want them to get scared off.
The active nest is right on the edge of the roof, just beneath the last row of roof tiles. The work the men undertake shouldn't block their flight path - i have noticed that both spaarows (male and female) have been flying in from different directions. If the men do the work quickly, they should hopefully not disturb them.
Paul, I did tell the agents that they were protected by the countryside and wildlife act, I also pointed out that house sparrows were on the rspb red list and that ther population was severly under threat. Disappointingly, and to my profound dismay, this didn't seem to bother them. Actually, their apethetic response made me quite angry.
I think the source of my frustration is that because I'm a tenant in the property, I cant stop them from doing the work. Furthermore, if the property developed a leak and structural damage as a consequence of me denying them access, they could make me liable for the damage. If I owned the property I would repair the tiles extremely carefully and make sure I didn't disturb the nest. I think the only thing I can do is to make sur ethat they do this. I will oversee the work these men do and make sure I am there at all times, pointing out the nest and making it very clear that they will be breaking the law if they disturb the birds. They'll probably think that I'm some crazed women, but to be frank, I don't care if they do, as I'm more concerned about the plight of these gorgeous little birds who are fast diminishing in their numbers.
Once again, thanks for your advice, Kat and Paul.
Hi Sarah
We have loads of sparrows nesting in the garden.
We have 3 nests under the edges of roof tiles - two of which are just above our front door. We are constantly in and out, and often sit at the front door if the weather is good and the sparrows don't seem to be bothered at all.
They still come and go, and feed the young - I think once they realise you don't mean them any harm, as said in a previous post, they are pretty tolerant.
We also have a year round colony that live in ivy on the house, and just love watching their antics.
Hope things go well with your sparrows and building work
Hi Sarah as already said, don't worry, and it wont take long for the workmen to fix a couple of tiles either.
An optimist sees the beauty of the complete rose.A pessimist sees only the thorn .