birdhouse rooftile by klaas kuiken
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'birdhouse rooftile' by klaas kuiken
all images courtesy of klaas kuiken
looking to find a solution to the shrinking bird population in urban areas, klaas kuiken consulted with the vogelbescherming (dutch bird association)
to conceive the 'birdhouse rooftile', a design which offers more places in which our feathered friends may rest and feed within the city.
birds often create nesting areas within the roofs of houses, and so taking this into consideration, the dutch designer has taken a standard rooftile
and constructed an archetypal house to be attached on top of it with a basket below - accessed by an opening - in which they may find shelter.
in this manner, kuiken has harnessed their typical behaviors to create a safe haven where they would in any case normally nestle,
while providing them with good ventilation and protection from domestic creatures such as cats.
the basket is composed of a wooden slate framed with a screen which creates a comb-like barrier so birds cannot pass through.
placed directly under the rooftile, this component ensures that they are unable to reach the entire covering of a building,
while also making it easy to clean after the breeding period is over.
the 'birdhouse tiles' are produced at dijkstra keliwaren in sneek, the netherlands, and after much anticipation, are finally available for order!
birds prefer nesting in groups so applying several 'birdhouse rooftiles' together is recommended
detail
the archetypal birdhouse structure is attached to the tile with a special glue which makes it resistant to extreme temperatures so that it does not come loose in the winter
'birdhouse rooftiles' in the dijkstra kleiwaren factory in sneek, where they are made
awaiting finishing
This is ingenious! Boiled eggs right out of the nest – and even waterless! I wonder if Mr Kuiken has ever noticed that a tiled roof will heat up to very high temperatures in direct sunlight.
Great location for cats to find handy snacks!
@Diamat LOL
Brilliant!
@Diamat everywhere in the world pigeons make nests under the tiles of the old roofs..and even waterless..
whenever I see a birdhouse with a stick underneath the hole I think: “ah a designer at work”
Birds don’t need a stick like that. Small tits will be able to hop into the hole without the stick..in fact the crows will like the stick because it is a good standing place for them to pick at the tit’s eggs..so designers please..don’t make that archetypal house like all the other designers (i think they could have told you that at the vogelbescherming too klaas!)
and while we are at it..this type of house is normally hung on trees..and diamat is right..cats will love it too.
one of the reasons why birds find it harder and harder to nest in urban areas is that there are less and less roof-tiles used in modern architecture..leaving less and less cracks for them to nest…so a house with roof-tiles is not really the problem..a house without roof-tiles is the problem..
ok well maybe the roof-tiles nowadays are a bit to perfect and leave very little cracks for sparrows etc..but the roof-tile that solves that problem was invented at least 10 years ago
http://rotterdam.groenlinks.nl/node/72924
it just looked less designy but just functioned.
cute idea, but houses will strongly overheat in summer
For my house in Sweden, I’m more afraid of the snow that can cover and trap the birds inside. Any advise?
super , ou peut-on acheter cela !!
cute idea, but houses will strongly overheat roof (i think so)
But I think this is too hot?
Besides overheating, there is no way to remove old nests which will accumulate parasites and pathogens which will kill the chicks. Not a very bright idea.