TWEET TWEET: ANIMAL

ACCOMMODATION

PROJECT

HOUSE SPARROWS

B Y K A Y L E I G H C U M M I N G S

W E E K 1 - 5 S E M E S T E R 1 2 0 1 2

CLIENT PROFILE

Declined rapidly in the last 20-30 years with a decrease of 10 million in the UK

alone. The species is now a Red List Species.

Decline Theories• Methyl tertiary butyl (MTBE) in unleaded petrol can affect the abundance of

insects for feeding young and this creates poor conditioned chicks.

• Autumn sown cereal crops leaves little stubble for the birds to forage in or spilt

grain to glean.

• Predation - increasing number of cats

• Modern building have fewer holes & crevices for nesting

• Collared Doves compete for a greater share of the same food types

• Urbanization of green spaces

• Set aside an area of garden to grow wild

• Plant insect & caterpillar friendly trees such as:

apple, oak, birch, willow and alder.

• Plant for butterflies who will in turn lay eggs supplying the birds

with caterpillars in spring.

• Nest boxes need to be near to house eaves/outbuildings.

• Many boxes needed, as they like to nest in colonies

• Boxes 2m above the ground, north to east sides of house to

avoid hottest sun and coldest winds.

• Seed baring plants for adults.

• Provide bird and dust baths.

• Provide shrubs such as: hawthorn, elder, blackthorn and

buddleia

EXISTING DESIGNS RELEVANT TO THE HOUSE

SPARROW.

Protecting Urban Songbirds Project

By Nan Wen 2011

The

Almost

Invisible

Mirrored

Tree

House

UPCYCLED BIRD HOUSES

3D DESIGN SKETCH ‘SPARROW CONDO’

I was able to make this sketch by a process of

cutting the panels into 5 equal lengths, and placing

them to make a hexagon shape. By placing the roof

back on the design this gave me a development

idea.

The sketch gave me an idea to create 5 separate ‘condos’ that

could be detached for cleaning and hanging separate if needed.

3D DESIGN SKETCH ‘BIRDY TOWERS’

I had an idea to create

a design that you could

add to as many times

as needed, to create a

‘Tower’ of homes for a

growing colony of

House Sparrows.

I also designed it so the

front panel was clear

plastic/glass so

observation by

scientists and

conservationists could

be carried out.

Although this would be

good the sunlight would

be dangerous and

predation would be

evident.

3D DESIGN SKETCH PLANT POT

I wanted to use

upcycle as one of

my chosen

processes so I

discovered a

broken plant pot

and thought of the

simplest ways it

could be used to

house birds.

3D DESIGN SKETCH: GLASS POD

I needed to create a cup like shape for my

client because they prefer a cup like nest.

So I ditched the glass shape and made it

into a sphere.

I still wanted to use the wood so made a

front entrance.

I liked the shape the wing of the House

Sparrow makes so I designed the porch in a

fanned out wing shape.

The problem with this design is that the

sunlight would make the birds very hot and

the glass would lose too much heat in the

colder days.

3D DESIGN SKETCH ‘GARDEN BOX’

I took the idea of a ‘garden

box’ from my 3D sketch, and

translated it with help from my

client profile. I don’t really like

the shape of this design

though, it would not be

practical to produce.

I developed the sphere shape

without the ‘garden box’ attached

and came up with an idea that the

spheres can be hung from any of

the hooks to utilize the smallest of

spaces.

Sphere shaped nest box as the house

sparrow prefers dome shaped nests. I

added a ‘garden box’ to allow for the

planting of plants that attract insects

for the birds to eat.

I liked the previous idea so decided to develop it further and

created my final design idea.

I thought about the ‘Community Hub’

need of the House Sparrows since

they nest in their colonies, and created

a hub of three with different facing

holes since sometimes House

Sparrows bully other species if they

happen to nest next door.

I added a dust bath and a water tray

since research showed they proved

popular and hopefully would attract

them. But the weight of this would be

considerable.

If I made one with the intention to

make several and hang nearby

one another on

trees, outbuildings, fences etc, it

would create a ‘Community Hub’.

Process of model making

Steaming technique

Main issues:

• Over hang of the roof

• The balsa wood was too thin for

steaming and was offering to snap

• Couldn’t fix the steamed wood to the

frame

Successes:

• Cut and slot technique

• Steaming technique (if used with

thicker wood)

Steaming Technique using upcycling of an old painting on hardwood.