Swift Nesting Brick Box, Terracotta Breeding Bird House for Brick or Rendered Walls

Product Information

Bats do some vital work in our ecosystem, from eating insects and bugs (the UK’s bat species eat nothing larger), thereby offering crops and gardeners some assistance, to pollinating plants. In fact, many plants which bees tend to avoid will be attractive to bats for nectar. Bat guano is a terrific fertiliser too, so bats are worth cultivating. Originally bats would have lived in trees and other natural shelters, however more recently they have evolved to live in older houses, churches (as in ‘bats in the belfry’), barns and other farm buildings. Modern construction materials and methods offer fewer (if any) opportunities for bats to roost, so it’s really important to make special provision in new developments in the right locations. Duncan and Jenny’s aim is to make people aware that despite inhabiting a highly populated world, ways need to be found of nurturing and protecting wildlife for this and future generations. They strongly believe that bird and bat boxes are an excellent way of providing for wildlife in every building. Installing a hedgehog house/box in the garden provides them with a safe place to shelter and hibernate through the winter. Whether this is to support biodiversity net gain on a new project or simply within your garden we can supply a quality, long-lasting hedgehog house. Hedgehog numbers in the UK have been in decline for over two decades and in 2020 became classified as vulnerable to extinction. Building developments on natural habitats and changes to farming practices have seriously impacted the number of hedgehogs in the UK, along with pesticides killing the hedgehog’s natural diet of slugs, insects and worms.

It’s fine to fit bat houses at any time of the year, however it makes most sense to complete your installation by early Springtime, as it will stand a chance of attracting bats emerging from their local hibernation, also other species who have wintered abroad.The hedgehog box should be placed in a quiet, shady, sheltered, dry place with plenty of protection vegetation around. Avoid having the entrance point north, north easterly to prevent cold winds entering the house. The Wienerberger Habibat range of integrated bat boxes are solid boxes made of insulating concrete that provide an internal roost space, ready to be integrated into the fabric of a building as it is built or renovated. Suitable for most species commonly found in the UK, the single chambered unit features an integrated V system to increase the surface for bats to roost against, while allowing freedom of movement. Many of the UK’s garden birds are struggling to maintain numbers, house sparrows being an obvious species that has suffered a serious decline in recent times. Providing bird houses is hugely important for giving such birds the best chance of rearing their young and surviving the winter in as safe an environment as possible. Another relatively little known effect of encouraging songbirds is the beneficial effect on our own (human) wellbeing, despite many studies over the years which have proven a link between audible bird song and good mental health. One example is ‘ Urban Mind: Using Smartphone Technologies to Investigate the impact of Nature on Mental Wellbeing in Real Time’, published in BioScience 10th January 2018.

The body is made from recycled polypropylene – an extremely tough and durable material used in construction for cavity trays and damp proof courses. This means the box lets in minimal amounts of moisture in adverse weather conditions making it such a highly desirable dry winter roost. As the plastic will be exposed to virtually no sunlight (if any), degradation is effectively eliminated. As a result the boxes are expected to last for the lifetime of the building in which they are housed – an important feature in terms of environmental planning. The founders would like to thank friends and family for all their support and belief in our venture to get us to where we are now. Thank you! Yes they will. During the winter months, bats will find a hibernation roost and huddle together as they largely shut down. Their body temperatures can fall dramatically – a 2012 study in the Journal of Mammalogy (Oxford University Press) revealed that the skin temperatures of hibernating Big Brown Bats in the US fluctuated from over 35 deg C to less than 5 deg C. Bats actually prefer winter roosts with a relatively constant temperature however and bat homes which are integral to buildings are useful for this purpose. We will only pass on information about you as an individual (as opposed to aggregate information) to third parties overseas to enable us to perform services requested by you.The table below covers the most common species that are likely to be attracted, together with siting guidance. It is not an exact science and it may be found that species other than the ones which may be targeted take up residence instead. It can also take time for birds and bats to start using the boxes. Species Eagerly anticipated by many, it is a thrilling moment when you first hear the distinctive screech or catch sight of the long, tapered wings of the first swifts arriving for the summer. For thousands of years they have looped to the British Isles from Africa to raise the next generation, taking advantage of the long daylight hours in the north and the opportunity to scour the skies for insects from dawn to dusk. In the UK, bat houses should generally face East, South or West, and positioned such that they are in sunlight for several hours a day to keep the roosting area warm. A brilliant idea to help some of our declining bird populations and give an added enjoyment to your home! By providing an environment in which the birds feel warm and safe, that’s large enough for them to move around and raise a family, and by using an entrance aperture which is only just large enough for the target species to use, thereby eliminating use by larger (possibly predatory) birds e.g. magpies.