Time to make birdhouses

Back in winter, the All-Ukrainian NGO Living Planet together with the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center announced children’s creativity contest to celebrate the International Bird Day. The contest aims to attract the attention of schoolkids to bird conservation and teach them how to make houses for birds. So, to take part in the contest, one needs to make and place in a park, public garden or forest at least three birdhouses (nesting places) and send pictures that prove it to the organizers. The contest will last until April 30, but first results were declared recently, and first birdhouses are already hanging from the trees of Holosiivsky Park in the capital. Evaluation criteria include nesting places’ compliance with standards and active participation in information events. Not only quality but quantity of birdhouses made, too, is taken into account. As much as 10 prizes will be presented upon the contest’s completion.

Director of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center Volodymyr Boreiko told us that not all birdhouses are useful for birds, and every birdhouse-maker has to approach the matter thoroughly. “The biggest problem is that people rely on their intuition when making birdhouses, which leads to them being ineffective and even harmful to the birds. There are certain standards that must be adhered to. Birdhouses should be hung out high in a quiet area of the park, directing them to the east, so that they are warmed by the sun. Also, an important point is that it should be done at the end of March, because birds begin to build their nests at this time,” the environmentalist said.

“Now is the time to place these houses in parks, because there will be no use for them afterwards,” The Living Planet’s leader Svitlana Berzina said. “Our primary goal is to talk about the event, to attract young people and encourage cooperation. It is also important to acquaint schoolkids and young naturalists with standard requirements for nesting places, so as to create optimal conditions for the birds,” she added.

The Bird Day was first celebrated as a mass children’s holiday in the US. It was organized by Charles Babcock, a teacher from Pennsylvania, in 1894. He was supported by the Pittsburgh Telegraph Chronicle newspaper, which called on locals to establish a bird conservation club-museum. The holiday went on to be celebrated in other states in the following years. First Ukrainian celebration was held in Mariupol at the initiative of Mariupol Local History Museum back in 1928. This tradition has spread to other cities of Ukraine since.