Youngsters sign up to build bird homes

A BIRD protection group is hoping to give our feathered friends a flying start by building homes for them to breed in.

Macclesfield RSPB Wildlife Explorers, the junior section of The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in East Cheshire, is teaming up with the RSPB adult group and Cheshire Wildlife Trust to build bird boxes to encourage more species to breed in the town.

The Big Bird Box Build initiative, launched on January 12, aims to raise £500 for materials and tools for children and young people to make the boxes at Lyme Green Business Park on February 28.

Members are no strangers to nest box building as the pictures above show.

Designs will cater for various bird species, with the boxes installed at Danes Moss Nature Reserve and across the town.

Wildlife Explorer group leader, Tina Hanak, said: “Many bird species are declining across the country. Hole-nesting birds such as blue tits and tree sparrows depend on suitable nest sites and without mature trees that provide natural holes and cavities, they can struggle to find homes.”

Experts will monitor breeding success, with findings published on the group’s website.

Donate at crowdfunding. justgiving.com/ macclesfieldbigbird boxbuild or at group meetings.