In Mios in Gironde, individuals welcome nesting boxes to protect swallows

Swallows’ nests larger than life, made by the children of the village of Mios, near the Bassin d’Arcachon in Gironde. Several volunteers from the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) have installed artificial nesting boxes in private homes to accommodate the migratory bird.

Many residents now house nesting boxes under the eaves of their homes. A gesture for the environment that contributes to biodiversity. “They are indeed fragile animals so you always have to help them, accompany them so that they develop and the fact of doing it with us is good too, rejoices Julien Raes, host family. As we are in an area that has a lot of mosquitoes, we think we will have a more peaceful summer”, adds Sophie, his wife. The swallows are indeed good predators against harmful. To feed their young, they are capable of absorbing up to 7,000 insects a day, including mosquitoes.

Pesticides, urbanization, climate change are all factors that contribute to the danger of the swallow. Around thirty households in the commune have been selected to participate in this vast project to strengthen the population. The objective is twofold: to mobilize and place the inhabitants at the heart of the protection of this threatened species, as Mathieu Sannier, biodiversity mission manager at the LPO, explains to us. “The barn swallow is almost 40% less in the space of 10 years, the house swallow about the same so we really have a drop in numbers, hence the interest of this project” .

As a reminder, the swallow is a protected species: destroying a nest is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.