Many species of wildlife use and are dependent on buildings. Birds such as Swift, Barn Owl and Swallow predominantly nest in builtstructures and bats use buildings as roost and breeding sites. This video explores the wide range of wildlife that occur in buildings and how to identify their presence. Given the importance of buildings for wildlife, changes to the built environment can affect the wildlife associated with it. The video aims to increase awareness of the potential for wildlife to occur in buildings in order to avoid negative effects through planning works appropriately. We also explore ways in which we can make existing or new buildings more suitable for wildlife and to provide nesting and roosting sites for species which have been affected by the loss of older stone structures in the landscape.

This video was produced by BirdWatch Ireland and CrowCrag in partnership with the Heritage Office of Laois County Council, Tipperary County Council and Clare County Council, with funding through the National Biodiversity Action Plan Fund of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

This video accompanies the booklet 'Wildlife in Buildings: Linking our Built and Natural Heritage' which was produced by BirdWatch Ireland, Kerry County Council and Donegal County Council and is available here: http://docstore.kerrycoco.ie/KCCWebsi...

Crossing the Line provided footage of wildlife species used in this video including Barn Owl, Lesser Horseshoe Bat, Spotted Flycatcher and Herring Gull.

Photo credits: Kestrel (Colum Clarke); Swift (Ben Andrews (rspbimages.com) and Barn Owl (Mike Brown).

Timecodes:
0:00 Introduction
02:49 Old stone structures
05:12 Farm buildings and farmyards
08:04 Modern buildings
11:06 Avoiding disturbance to wildlife
13:05 Improving buildings for wildlife
15:09 Avoiding conflict with wildlife in buildings
17:34 Credits
END