This is my power point presentation for the 'Tweet Tweet, Animal Accommodation Project'. It is a summary of research, development and final piece of work.

1. TWEET TWEET: ANIMAL
ACCOMMODATION
PROJECT
HOUSE SPARROWS
B Y K AY L E I G H C U M M I N G S
WEEK 1-5 SEMESTER 1 2012

2. CLIENT PROFILE
Declined rapidly in the last 20-30 years with a decrease of 10 million in the UK
alone. The species is now a Red List Species.
Decline Theories
• Methyl tertiary butyl (MTBE) in unleaded petrol can affect the abundance of
insects for feeding young and this creates poor conditioned chicks.
• Autumn sown cereal crops leaves little stubble for the birds to forage in or spilt
grain to glean.
• Predation - increasing number of cats
• Modern building have fewer holes & crevices for nesting
• Collared Doves compete for a greater share of the same food types
• Urbanization of green spaces

3. • Set aside an area of garden to grow wild
• Plant insect & caterpillar friendly trees such as:
apple, oak, birch, willow and alder.
• Plant for butterflies who will in turn lay eggs supplying the birds
with caterpillars in spring.
• Nest boxes need to be near to house eaves/outbuildings.
• Many boxes needed, as they like to nest in colonies
• Boxes 2m above the ground, north to east sides of house to
avoid hottest sun and coldest winds.
• Seed baring plants for adults.
• Provide bird and dust baths.
• Provide shrubs such as: hawthorn, elder, blackthorn and
buddleia

4. EXISTING DESIGNS RELEVANT TO THE HOUSE
SPARROW.
The
Almost
Invisible
Protecting Urban Songbirds Project Mirrored
By Nan Wen 2011 Tree
House

5. UPCYCLED BIRD HOUSES

6. 3D DESIGN SKETCH ‘SPARROW CONDO’
I was able to make this sketch by a process of
cutting the panels into 5 equal lengths, and placing
them to make a hexagon shape. By placing the roof
back on the design this gave me a development
idea.

7. The sketch gave me an idea to create 5 separate ‘condos’ that
could be detached for cleaning and hanging separate if needed.

8. 3D DESIGN SKETCH ‘BIRDY TOWERS’

9. I had an idea to create
a design that you could
add to as many times
as needed, to create a
‘Tower’ of homes for a
growing colony of
House Sparrows.
I also designed it so the
front panel was clear
plastic/glass so
observation by
scientists and
conservationists could
be carried out.
Although this would be
good the sunlight would
be dangerous and
predation would be
evident.

10. 3D DESIGN SKETCH PLANT POT

11. I wanted to use
upcycle as one of
my chosen
processes so I
discovered a
broken plant pot
and thought of the
simplest ways it
could be used to
house birds.

12. 3D DESIGN SKETCH: GLASS POD

13. I needed to create a cup like shape for my
client because they prefer a cup like nest.
So I ditched the glass shape and made it
into a sphere.
I still wanted to use the wood so made a
front entrance.
I liked the shape the wing of the House
Sparrow makes so I designed the porch in a
fanned out wing shape.
The problem with this design is that the
sunlight would make the birds very hot and
the glass would lose too much heat in the
colder days.

14. 3D DESIGN SKETCH ‘GARDEN BOX’

15. I developed the sphere shape
without the ‘garden box’ attached
and came up with an idea that the
spheres can be hung from any of
the hooks to utilize the smallest of
spaces.
I took the idea of a ‘garden
box’ from my 3D sketch, and
translated it with help from my
client profile. I don’t really like
the shape of this design
though, it would not be
practical to produce.

16. Sphere shaped nest box as the house
sparrow prefers dome shaped nests. I
added a ‘garden box’ to allow for the
planting of plants that attract insects
for the birds to eat.
I liked the previous idea so decided to develop it further and
created my final design idea.

17. I thought about the ‘Community Hub’
need of the House Sparrows since
they nest in their colonies, and created
a hub of three with different facing
holes since sometimes House
Sparrows bully other species if they
happen to nest next door.
I added a dust bath and a water tray
since research showed they proved
popular and hopefully would attract
them. But the weight of this would be
considerable.
If I made one with the intention to
make several and hang nearby
one another on
trees, outbuildings, fences etc, it
would create a ‘Community Hub’.

18. Process of model making

19. Steaming technique
Main issues:
• Over hang of the roof
• The balsa wood was too thin for
steaming and was offering to snap
• Couldn’t fix the steamed wood to the
frame
Successes:
• Cut and slot technique
• Steaming technique (if used with
thicker wood)

21. Steaming Technique using upcycling of an old painting on hardwood.