Creating homes for Dales house birds

March 7, 2025

Iconic house birds such as House Martins, House Sparrows, Starlings, and Swifts were once a common sight over UK towns and cities, but drastic declines in breeding populations mean they are now on the UK Red List and have been lost completely from many areas.

House sparrow – Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

Homes for Dales House Birds

In November we were thrilled to be awarded £250,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players, to protect these four iconic species, helping to ensure they remain a key part of the Yorkshire Dales landscape.

Working in partnership with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and RSPB, the three-year Building Homes for Dales House Birds project will bring people together from communities across the region to create suitable nest sites and enhance feeding areas so house nesting birds can continue to thrive in the Dales.

Working together to help house birds thrive

We’re fortunate that house nesting birds are still found in Yorkshire Dales settlements, where nooks and crannies in traditional buildings provide nest sites and the surrounding landscape provides abundant food. The challenge is to ensure these populations remain, as more buildings are insulated and retrofitted and the holes and gaps that once provided nesting sites are lost.

At the heart of this ambitious nature recovery project will be people, not only those from local Dales communities, but also from underrepresented groups living in nearby cities and towns. Events, training and opportunities for longer-term volunteering will provide skills to drive the project forward, as well as a citizen science project to help to inform future conservation actions.

Find out more about the project and how you can get involved > Homes for House Birds 

Starling adult male – Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)