Swifts and house martins

Swifts and house martins are elegant fliers, and are at home in the air. When breeding, they look for a place under the roofs of our houses. In order to better protect the breeding sites of these rare birds, the City of Zug and the municipality of Baar have drawn up an inventory of their breeding buildings.

According to the media release of the City of Zug, the City of Zug and the municipality of Baar will now record all locations with breeding locations in the current year, and these are becoming rare. The city of Zug already has an inventory, and is now having it revised. Typical birds that nest on buildings, such as swifts and swallows, breed almost exclusively on buildings, and are therefore dependent on the appropriate nesting opportunities. As they tend to remain loyal to their previous nesting site, they often find it difficult to find new nesting sites. If an older building is demolished or the openings are closed up during renovations, nesting sites may be lost. The municipality of Baar and the City of Zug want to sensitize the population to the fact that such nesting sites should be preserved.

A swift
Image: birdfoto.ch/PD

The birds search for locations In June and July
Between June and July, numerous people will be on the road with field glasses. These are either an employee of the commissioned eco-office Versaplan GmbH or volunteers. They are looking for the breeding sites of birds that nest on buildings. The focus is on the swifts (Mauersegler) and house martins (Mehlschwalben). In areas with a rural character, kestrels, barn owls and the swallows that nest in cowsheds will also be recorded. The inventory is completed with well-known weekly residences of bats (Fledermäuse).

The inventories serve to protect and promote the birds that nest on buildings. The already known nesting sites of the city of Zug are registered in the Zugmap, the geoportal of the canton of Zug. The inventory is used in the processing of building applications, and suitable solutions are sought with the client with regard to existing nesting sites.

The population is now called upon to take part in this inventory: Do birds nest on your house, or do you know such a location? Then report it directly to info@versplan.ch by e-mail.