NESTING BIRD SURVEY

All wild birds, their nests and eggs are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

It is an offence, with certain exceptions, to intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird; intentionally take, damage or destroy or otherwise interfere with the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built; intentionally obstruct or prevent any wild bird from using its nest; or intentionally take or destroy the egg of any wild bird.

Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act lists birds protected by special penalties at all times. It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb any wild bird listed in Schedule 1 while it is nest-building or is at or near a nest with eggs or young; or disturb the dependent young of such a bird.

Consequently, to avoid their unintentional destruction, a pre-clearance check for nesting birds is commonly placed as a condition of planning approval if habitat removal is scheduled during the breeding season.

What We Provide

Nesting Bird Checks

Our site visit will aim to determine if nesting birds are present within the proposed work areas by locating any active nests. Any nest found will be correctly identified to species level and, from its contents and our understanding of the breeding cycle, we will provide an accurate estimate of when the nest will become vacant and recommend an appropriate protection zone around the nest until that date.

We can also arrange for on-going monitoring visits to confirm a nest it is still active and to reassess its completion date.

Mitigation and Habitat Enhancement

Our understanding of breeding habitat and natural nest sites allows us to recommend the most appropriate and effective methods to mitigate losses of habitat and nest sites and to enhance a site for nesting birds.

We can provide guidance for landscape schemes by recommending plants (native or ornamental species) that provide the most suitable structure for nesting. We also advise on the correct types of nest boxes to use and most importantly, where to place them for maximum success and have devised many unique and innovative solutions over the years.

BREEDING SEASON AND NESTING HABITATS

The core breeding season in Britain, when the bulk of species are nesting, runs March-September and it is this time-frame that most planning conditions apply to. Quite a number of commonly encountered species, however, begin nesting well before March and others conclude their breeding season much later than September so caution is required outside the core season - birds have actually been recorded nesting in every month of the year. See our Survey Calendar >>>for more information

It is also a popular misconception that birds only nest in trees, hedges and bushes. In reality, they nest in an exceptional variety of settings from ground level to the tops of trees, buildings, towers and cliffs and in almost every habitat imaginable. Some species, e.g. Little Ringed Plover (a Schedule 1 species), breed on bare open ground and are frequently attracted to development sites once clearance works have been completed.

UNRIVALED EXPERIENCE...

The breeding ecology of birds is poorly understood by most modern ornithologists, and the ability to find nests is a skill that nearly all lack. Not so at Castell Ecology...

Richard Castell has found or seen the nest of nearly all of the c. 210 birds that regularly breed in Britain and is a nationally recognised expert in this field. Among other publications on this topic, Richard is co-author of the BTO Field Guide to Monitoring Nests which is considered to be the definitive guide to finding and studying the nests of British birds. While there are standardised guidelines for most ecological surveys, none exist for finding the nests birds - The BTO Field Guide, therefore, represents the closest thing to such guidance.

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