[Fieldfare]

Hi all- we are considering converting a stone barn to living accommodaton which has swallows nesting in it every year (work will probably start early spring). Any tips how we could still accommodate the swallows after the work was done? i.e. any external or internal nest designs that you think might work? we do have a couple of other barns which don't seem that attractive to them at the moment (maybe too light? or not the correct structure to build upon?) which I can adapt as necessary. Do you think they will take kindly being forced to move? we reallyy want them to stay!

We would like to build in other nest sites into the structure to attract owls, bats,swifts and house martins- anyone got any tips or web resources that might help?

Many thanks!

[suziequeue]

I was asking exactly the same question last year when we were redesigning our house.

I am assuming that you will require a bat survey as part of your planning application. Certainly our bat survey guy lived locally and was also the local owl expert so he advised us about that too. So it would be worth asking the person who comes to do your bat survey what he/she thinks.

Swallows - are there other buildings nearby that they could colonise? Our swallows don't seem too fussy but won't go near the artificial nests. They like privacy and will vacate a nest if there are too many disturbances - especially whilst they are sitting on eggs. They like eves and the broad cross beams of A frames. If you have any outbuildings then maybe having a gap of a few inches above the door to allow them access and egress.

Swifts - they are colonial birds and prefer to live in buildings (e.g. holes in the walls of old houses, church spires etc). It is very difficult to colonise with swifts if you are a single remote rural dwelling as this is not their preferred habitat.

Owls - depends on breed but I think by and large they need woods close to open ground so that they have somewhere to roost/nest and open ground nearby to hunt. Owl boxes are very successful.

I am no expert. I am sure there are people better qualified than me who can help you. This is just what I have picked up in my enquiries along the same lines

[Fleecewife]

Hi Fieldfare.  How lovely to hear from someone who wants to accommodate the birds.  When we first moved here we displaced some swallows, which still try to build in the house if we leave the doors and windows open when they are choosing a site.  They happily moved into the outbuildings and the hen houses - not so happy about that because I think they bring red mite with them, but there's no keeping them out - they go in the popholes so we have given in and made permanent access slits above the doors, which have the secondary purpose of aiding ventilation. Their nests need to be safe from predators such as magpies which will pull down the nests and eat the eggs/chicks.  Of course you have to do the work during the time they are in Africa or they will start to nest in your building site.
We also displaced blue tits when we renovated the granny flat, and it took a while for them to adopt the nest box we put up for them instead.  Overall though by planting hedges and a small plantation (for cover, nest sites and calm winds for insects), and making sure there are plenty of flowers to attract insects, provide nectar etc,and plants with seed heads and berries, we have increased the numbers of birds manyfold. 
This year, although they started late, we had at least 9 swallows nests, compared with about 3 16 years ago, plus the martins this year. Swallows seem remarkably tolerant of human activity and either just watch you from above, or if you are being annoying they will dive bomb your head to get their point across.
You can buy premade swallows nests which you fix where you want them to nest, andf I presume you can also get martins nests too, which are a more enclosed shape.  Ah but I see from SuzieQs reply that they are not too fond of them.  This spring when it was so dry, swallows had little to make their nests from, with no wet mud around, so ours made less strong nests from hay and other things which other birds use.  I thought they might have liked the preformed nests then.

[robert waddell]

on one building site i worked on the swallows nested in a garage all work stopped on that garage till they migrated        at home we have one of the biggest colonies of swallows in the area and they are still here today they are nesting in all the outside buildings and do not seem to mind our presence
we have had bats since 1964 just cant find out where they roost 

[RAVENSER]

Hi
Swallows like the nest sites to be quite dark, If you can extend the roof over the gable wall with an over hang of about 1 meter and put a very deep facia on it from the apex, they may well use the rear of the facia facing the gable wall.

[lachlanandmarcus]

It may take a little while for them to take to new places - it took 3 years for our swallows to adopt the new stable building ( a wood mini barn design). I was really pleased as the old barn they also used is eventually destined and has PP to become part of the (attached) house). There are cross beams in the stable but they much prefer the 'shelf' at the top of the walls. They successfully raised 3 sets of babies each in there this year, and the stable cats dont bother them as our horses are territorial and wont let the cats in their stables, so the swallows pick on shelves above occupied stables!

[Hopewell]

We've had swallows nesting in an old brick barn and coming and going through the normal sized door. If you stand in the doorway they just chatter at you until you move. There were 3 separate nests in that small barn this year. They also use the outside toilet, and old brick cowshed and old brick pigsties, where you could reach the nests very easily if you wanted to, so definitely very tolerant of us being around. They have been known to fly in the back door when its open in the summer. All of the places they nest are very sheltered, fairly dark and have lots of crossbeams.
Strangely we never have house martins although they do nest in the village, so I just wondered if they prefer to have separate accommodation. Our eaves on the house would be ideal for them, as house martins usually nest on the outside of the house just under the eaves. (As a child my bedroom window was just below a house martin nest.)

[SallyintNorth]

We have swallows every year, they nest on the beams and 'shoulders' in the old byres etc.  They don't come in the modern sheds at all.  There are always three pairs in the area used as dog kennels and where I milk my Jersey - they're very tolerant of me, at least!  (Though maybe the dog kennels was the best spot for avoiding predation by the cat...)

This year we had house martins as well - under the eaves on the house and largest barn.  BH says it's maybe 15 years since the house martins nested here - we don't know why they came back this time. 

Years ago I used an old stable as a chicken shed.  I had to block the door for the chickens, but made an opening at the top of the now-mesh-filled window for the resident swallows.  They did use it but dive-bombed us, telling us off, every time they saw us, all that summer. 

Answering the original question - a friend converted some lovely old stables into a house, displacing some swallows.  He built a log shed out of oak, hoping the swallows would use the beams in the overhanging roof of the shed's 'verandah'.  They didn't the first year but they have done ever since.   

[waterhouse]

We persuaded ours to move this year from the stable where our feral cats have taken up residence to a different, rather more cat resistant one. And OH strung a sheet underneath after the babes started falling out.  12ft onto concrete not good.