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Nest boxes have been put up in the southern and northern parks of the Medical School in Pécs
July 2, 2025
11 nest boxes were installed in the southern and northern parks of the Medical School on 1 July in the frame of the UP Bird Friendly University programme. The boxes are not for feeding, but to replace the natural breeding sites of birds living in holes made by woodpeckers. They will be used as roosting sites in winter and are expected to become breeding sites next spring.
The role of the nest boxes is to replace the natural breeding habitat of birds that live in holes made by woodpeckers. Some birds, especially native species of tits and sparrows, have adapted evolutionarily and find shelter in abandoned woodpecker holes. Artificial nests are needed because today’s forest management does not favour the growth of older, more dense trees, and because they are often incident-prone, they are quickly felled in inland areas, and their replacement is not ensured.
Dr. Péter Gaszler (UPMS Department of Medical Biology, MME Baranya County Group) and Dr. Viktor Glied (UP Special College for Sustainable Development) placed the 11 bird nests in the southern and northern parks of the Medical School in Pécs. The boxes can be opened, so it is possible to monitor the breeding, even in the frame of awareness-raising events, when it is possible to bring people closer to nature and its processes. With proper exam and licensing, bird ringers can put a metal ring with unique identification on the nestlings. Later, by reading the ring code, information can also be obtained about a species: how long it lives, where it migrates, and how climate change affects it.
The boxes can serve as home mainly to the great tit, blue tit, Eurasian tree sparrow, and starling. This year, birds are likely to use them only as roosting sites, but they may get accustomed to them, and thus the boxes can become potential breeding sites by next spring. The boxes are therefore not used for feeding but as future nesting sites.
Photos:
Tibor Rafa-Gyovai / UPMS