General Information
Common Swifts are colonial breeders. They breed in fairly large groups on a single building or in the immediate neighbourhood. Anyone wishing to protect swifts must therefore always reckon with several nests. If part of a colony is destroyed, the whole colony is severely disturbed. Swifts that have lost their home may try to fly into the remaining nest sites, which are already occupied by other pairs, leading to fights over nest sites. Both opponents can suffer severe injuries.
Swifts nest high up on buildings, usually at the corners: behind rainwater pipes and downpipes, in wooden eaves boxes, on top of wall copings, in roller-shutter boxes, under window sills, under roof tiles, at the verge …; their nests cannot be seen from outside, but you can watch the swifts flying in, especially in the evening hours.
All building-nesting birds and their nest sites are protected by law all year round – that is, also when they are not breeding in our buildings, or when they are not in Europe during the winter. In detail:
Under the European Union’s Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive and the Birds Directive, building-nesting birds, as part of the „European bird species“, are placed on an equal footing with strictly protected species as regards the prohibitions of species protection law. (see the European Birds Directive 79/409/EEC, which came into force on 15 February 2010 (Directive 2009/147/EC)). Through the implementation of the nature conservation laws of the Federation and the federal states, their populations are to be preserved permanently. The decisive provision is § 44 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG).
Paragraph 1 there reads:
§ 44 (1) BNatSchG (extract)
It is prohibited
- to pursue, catch, injure or kill wild animals of specially protected species, or to take, damage or destroy their developmental forms from the wild,
- to significantly disturb wild animals of specially protected species and of European bird species during the breeding, rearing, moulting, overwintering and migration periods; a significant disturbance exists if the disturbance causes the conservation status of the local population of a species to deteriorate,
- to take, damage or destroy breeding sites or resting places of wild animals of specially protected species from the wild.
- (…)
For Common Swifts this means:
During refurbishment or the demolition of a building or part of a building, as well as during gutting work, neither a clutch of eggs nor a nest with young birds may be removed, nor may the breeding birds be hindered when flying in and out. Holes in the building that are used by swifts as breeding sites may not be sealed. Building work on the part of the building concerned may only take place once the young birds have fledged and left. What counts here is not a theoretical assumption („swifts are usually in Germany between May and mid-July“) but the actual presence of young birds.
In the course of refurbishment projects, no animals or eggs may be harmed under any circumstances.
Breeding birds may not be disturbed by the work in such a way that the brood is impaired or abandoned and the young or the eggs die, or that the nest site is permanently abandoned – as a rule this means that refurbishment work on buildings with breeding birds must be carried out outside the breeding season.
Breeding sites, resting places and roosts are protected all year round if the animals are site-faithful. This means animals that return to the same breeding site every year. Common Swifts are extremely site-faithful. Every year they meet their breeding partner at the same nest site. The nest sites of swifts may therefore not be damaged, destroyed, removed or sealed even while the birds are absent.
Responsibility for compliance with the applicable nature and species protection law normally lies with the Lower Nature Conservation Authority (Untere Naturschutzbehörde) of your municipality. This is where you report any unlawful interference with building-nesting birds that you have observed. It is helpful if you can give detailed information on where the breeding sites are or were. If you have taken photographs, it is easier for the authority to act, because these can prove where swifts or other building-nesting birds nested and that they did so.
Anyone who contravenes § 44 BNatSchG commits an administrative offence. This applies to everyone acting directly or indirectly, so not only to the client commissioning the building work, but also to the architect engaged, the site manager or the tradespeople carrying out the work. Under § 69 (7) in conjunction with § 69 (1) BNatSchG, they can be fined up to €50,000. In addition, in many cases not only is work on the site stopped, but the reversal of building measures is also required, for example dismantling parts of the scaffolding, taking down tarpaulins and dust netting, or restoring openings.
I want to convert my house, renovate my facade, carry out energy-efficiency refurbishment or demolish a building. Surely that cannot be prohibited!
Of course repairs and modernisation work on buildings are necessary, and of course buildings may be demolished – but the project must be compatible with species protection law.
Only in very rare cases is a building project not permitted at all. Almost always a solution or a compromise can be found that makes the work possible.
That is why it is essential to consider the subject of „species protection“ right from the planning stage of a building or refurbishment project. That is the only way to avoid unnecessary trouble, stress and unnecessary costs.
How should you proceed?
- Is species protection affected by my planned project at all? Does a protected animal species live on the building?
Owners are not always aware that they have animal lodgers. Swifts, for example, can be very discreet when they fly into a niche. Nor does every owner live in the building concerned. Often, however, the neighbours or tenants watch the birds. It is sensible to contact people on site in good time and ask about such observations.
For large projects it makes sense to have the buildings inspected and assessed by commissioned building biologists in the year before a refurbishment or demolition is planned.
If species protection is affected, an exemption under § 67 BNatSchG must be applied for from the competent authority. This then sets out the conditions under which the building work may take place. The authority examines - whether and how adverse effects on the building-nesting birds and their habitats can be avoided;
- if this is not possible, how harm to the birds can be prevented. Often the building work is postponed to a date after breeding and after the young have been reared. However, it may also be feasible to carry out only parts of the work later, i.e. to start in places where no animals are put at risk.
- If habitats cannot be preserved, replacements must be provided. For swifts these should be placed as close as possible to the original entrance holes. Common Swifts are extremely site-faithful and, on their return from Africa, fly precisely to the spot they have always flown into. They find it very hard to get used to something new.
If it is necessary to seal or remove a nest site during modernisation or the demolition of a building, an exemption must be applied for from the competent authority. Which authority is competent can be found in the nature conservation law of the respective federal state. In Hesse, the Lower Nature Conservation Authority is competent. The UNB can grant an exemption under nature conservation law pursuant to § 67 (2) BNatSchG from the prohibition under § 44 BNatSchG. Only with this permit may a nest site be sealed in which there are currently no eggs or birds. The permit is usually tied to conditions such as the provision of replacement nest sites or the restoration of the nest site.
„I love swifts! I live on the 4th floor, I am a tenant and would like to put up swift nest boxes above my balcony. Am I allowed to do that?“
You should discuss this with your landlord. Once a nest box has been occupied, it is protected under § 44 BNatSchG. This may therefore lead to a legal dispute with your landlord.
„I watched the neighbours having holes at the top of the facade sealed with expanding foam. I know that swifts are breeding behind them!“
Report this immediately to both the police and the environmental authority of your municipality, and if in doubt also to the official veterinarian. This is not only an administrative offence under the Federal Nature Conservation Act, but also an offence under the Animal Welfare Act. If the birds come to harm, it even constitutes a criminal offence. Insist on immediate action, because there is a danger that the swifts and their chicks will starve, die of thirst or suffocate, and their plumage may also become clogged with foam.
„Swifts are breeding behind our gutter. Every year chicks fall out of the nest. May I close the entrance and hang an artificial nest box in that spot?“
The place swifts choose for breeding is not always suitable for rearing the chicks. Nevertheless, the spot behind your gutter is a breeding site that is protected all year round under § 44 BNatSchG. Call the environmental department of your municipality and describe the problem. I am sure a permit will be granted. The replacement nest site should hang as precisely as possible at the spot the swifts are used to flying into. Why not put up several nest boxes? And of course you must wait with this work until the swifts have departed.
„I have a building permit! Surely I am allowed to build and alter my house in the way it was approved!“
You may only do so if species protection concerns were expressly named in your building permit. As a rule this is not the case. Species protection is the responsibility of the client or the persons they commission.
There is a wide range of information on legal questions concerning the protection of building-nesting birds on the internet. Many towns, districts and municipalities have produced leaflets and brochures for their citizens on building work and the protection of building-nesting birds. BUND, NABU and LBV have also published brochures and information material on the subject. You will find some links below (accessed on 8 JUN 2018); often suitable contact persons are already named there. The list does not claim to be complete. No responsibility is taken for the content. The order of the links is random.
Links
https://www.bfn.de/themen/artenschutz/regelungen/vogelschutzrichtlinie.html
https://www.bund-nrw.de/themen/tiere-pflanzen/alle-tiere-pflanzen/artenschutz-an-gebaeuden/gesetzliche-grundlagen/
http://www.bremische-buergerschaft.de/dokumente/wp19/land/drucksache/D19L1594.pdf
https://www.ris-muenchen.de/RII/RII/DOK/SITZUNGSVORLAGE/2594523.pdf
https://www.remscheid.de/leben/medienpool/dokumente020/1.31.5_Broschuere_Waermedaemmung-Artenschutz.pdf
http://www.wessobrunn.de/media/files/schwarzes_brett_2017/Merkblatt_Artenschutz_am_Haus_Gebaeudebrueter_Fledermaeuse_fertig.pdf
http://www.siegen-wittgenstein.de/media/custom/2170_1141_1.PDF?1443093508
https://www.ingolstadt.de/media/custom/465_8474_1.PDF?1520271516
http://www.artenschutz-am-haus.de/haeufige-fragen/von-handwerkern.html
https://berlin.nabu.de/stadt-und-natur/lebensraum-haus/artenschutz/gesetzlicher-schutz/index.html
http://www.gebaeudebrueter.de/projekte/schutz/renovierungen/index.html
https://www.lbv-muenchen.de/unsere-themen-lbv-muenchen/artenschutz-an-gebaeuden-lbv-muenchen/schutzmassnahmen.html
http://www.gruenstifter.com/informationen/artenschutz-am-gebaeude/rechtliche-verpflichtungen-gebaeudebrueter