By Krisztina Fenyo
TAMASI, Hungary (Reuters) – A Hungarian man has created over 400 nests for swallows on his house in a decade-long effort to attract the migrating birds, whose numbers are dwindling because of climate change and pesticide use.
Swallows, whose annual appearance in European skies is a harbinger of summer, eat small insects that they catch in flight and nest in nooks and crannies where they build distinctive curved structures with tiny holes for access.
Ferenc Matics started making nests for them 12 years ago out of sawdust, plaster and water, and so many have come that he has now filled all the space under the eaves of his house, in the village of Tamasi in southern Hungary, with ready-made nests.
“At first I just made 10 nests, then 20 were needed, and it just went on. At present there are 430 nests, and the capacity of the house is now exhausted,” he said, smiling.
“There will never be birds in all 430 … but at least they have a choice. Last year there were 250 pairs but I am afraid this year there will be fewer because there are already fewer than usual.”
Matics has learnt over the years that the swallows favour brown nests and do not use white ones, so he uses mud to give his nests a natural brown colour.
His success in attracting swallows to his house has not gone unnoticed, and he now builds nests for other people who share his concerns about the decline in swallow numbers.
The swallow population in Hungary collapsed by 64% between 2000 and 2010, according to the Hungarian Association for Ornithology and Nature Protection. That was driven by agricultural use of insecticides that made it harder for swallows to find enough to eat.
While the decline has been halted over the past decade, partly thanks to public awareness campaigns, it has not been reversed.
Intensive farming and climate change remain major obstacles to the return of greater numbers of swallows, said Zoltan Orban, spokesman for the ornithology association.
“Before the acceleration of climate change there would be two or three extreme weather events per century at the time of year when they hatch,” he said.
“Now, due to the changes in their habitat and in the climate, the swallows have to endure extreme conditions not every few decades but two or three times in one year.”
(Reporting by Krisztina Fenyo, writing by Krisztina Than)
