Helping house martins

Have you seen a house martin?

These birds – which are glossy black on top and white underneath with a forked tail – are summer visitors to the UK. They arrive here in April after making the epic 3000-mile journey from Africa and they stay until October. While here, they breed and raise their chicks.

House martins usually build their nests under the eaves of buildings – which is how they get their name. They tend to nest in colonies, building their nests out of mud which they collect from streams and ponds. It takes approximately 1,000 small balls of clay for a house martin pair to make their nest cup. The females lay 4-5 eggs, spending 3 weeks feeding their chicks before they take their first flight. The birds will return to the same nesting site each year and will often re-use their nest.

Unfortunately, the population of house martins has declined. This is largely due to habitat loss, a reduction in insect populations – their food – and a lack of suitable nesting sites. If a house martin does choose to nest on your house, it’s important not to disturb them.

Helping house martins

To help secure the long-term future for house martins in the area, two house martin towers have recently been installed – one at the Hoburne estate in Christchurch, and one at Canford Heath in Poole.

A house martin tower is a place for these amazing birds to rest and to build their nest cups undisturbed.

At Canford, birds fly to the heath from the nearby colony to collect the mud to build their nests. The heathland here is also a rich habitat which supports a whole range of insects and so gives the house martins the best chance to be able to provide for their chicks.

The Hoburne location was chosen because there is a good population of house martins in the area, and the tower will help support the birds with additional space to nest.

Alongside the tower here, a pond area has been installed which is designed in a way that allows house martins to collect sediment from the edges, which they can then use to build their nests. The pond and wildflower meadows will support insects, which in turn will feed the birds and increase their chance of successful breeding.

Hoburne:

This project has been facilitated by Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group. The nest tower was carefully constructed by New Milton Men’s Shed, with materials provided by New Milton Sand & Ballast. The pond area was installed by The Parks Foundation.

Canford Heath:

This BCP Council project, supported by The Parks Foundation, has been funded by Canford Environmental and Canford Heath Residents Association and constructed by Wildlife Windows.

Published December 2024