We installed a variety of bird lairs to preserve and increase the bird life of Sas-hegy in one of our project sites (DINPD). It was necessary because Sas-hegy lacks the old trees that could provide living and nesting places for birds. With the placement of the lairs, we hypothetically jumped 50-100 years in time; because that is the time that is needed for the trees to be old enough to provide these kind of habitats. Birds find abundant food resources in the surrounding shrubby vegetation consisted of hawthorn, blackthorn and rose hips. The forest-grassland mosaic also provides a suitable habitat for insects and rodents, which could also serve as a food resource for the birds. We want to help species that are typically found in this environment, such as tom-tits, robins and blackcaps, but also those that are more typical in elder forest, such as the tree-creeper, Eurasian nuthatch or hopooe. Volunteers from TATA helped us during the work who are regularly visiting the area. Next time, perhaps, bird monitoring will be part of their work!
Péter Koncz, Ferenc Hock, Szilvia Csóka