Evolution at BBH…

Our bird feeders here at Bird Brick Houses HQ are in constant use. March is a frantic month for birds, using the the slightly longer hours to checkout prospective nest sites ahead of the even more frantic breeding season. A good variety of seeds and nuts will attract a commensurate variety of species. Best practice includes a regular wash of your feeders to help keep bird diseases at bay.

We’re delighted to hear that writer and broadcaster Kate Bradbury of BBC’s Springwatch has had success with her newly fitted Bird Brick Houses – Great Tits have moved in! Kate tweets regularly about their activities.

Keen-eyed followers of ours will have noticed that the internal fittings of our bat box are very different to bird boxes. The bat box includes a rough timber board, designed for bats to hang with ease. Why do they hang you ask? Bats evolved to use their hands and mouths to lock onto prey, while hanging from their back legs in trees. The tendons in their claws adapted in turn such that they lock while hanging, rather like a vacuum brake locking onto the wheel unless it’s being pumped open, and allowing them to sleep in that position.

Another reason bats hang is that to save weight for flying, their back legs have evolved to be very thin, to the extent that they can no longer stand up on them. Taking off is therefore only possible by dropping into flight, much like swifts. Well positioned bat boxes, we suggest at a height of 3-6 metres and away from external lighting, are ideal for this purpose.

We’re always looking to develop new products – you may have noticed the Wildlife Towers on our website. We’re working on a revolutionary new bird box, but can’t say very much about it just now as the patent is still to be worked through. More later this year!