Innovative nests

As climate change and human development degrade the quality and availability of breeding bird habitat, safe nesting sites for vulnerable species can be hard to find. Oikonos seeks to solve this housing shortage by collaborating with artists and designers to create artificial nest sites. These nest structures are built sustainably to be long-lasting solutions to increase habitat in both seabird colonies and endangered forests. They are customized to temper the risks to the birds inside by excluding predators and maintaining a safe temperature, while also allowing researchers to safely study them.

Seabird ceramic nests:

Ceramicist Nathan Lynch, at the California College of the Arts and Oikonos scientists collaborated to design and install artificial clay nests, made entirely out of sustainable and strong ceramic and customized for vulnerable seabird species. First created for rhinoceros auklets at Año Nuevo Island to replace degrading plywood boxes, the ceramic nest “modules” provide climate-resilient homes for birds to raise their single chicks. Both the tunnel and the chamber are uncrushable – an important feature when habitat is shared with heavy sea lions.

This model was quickly expanded and customized to species and sites across the Pacific – in Hawaii, the Farallon Islands, and the Channel Islands. Oikonos works with partners to increase safe nesting sites for five species of seabird. In rocky caves in the Channel Islands, endangered ashy storm petrels are protected from predation by ravens in their ceramic nests. In the Freeman Preserve in Oahu, Hawaii, wedge-tailed shearwaterpopulations grow as protected nesting habitat increases. Since the first nests were installed in 2011, Rhinoceros Auklets at Año Nuevo Island have fledged over 100 chicks from the modules.

Keep ‘Em Cool – Climate Resilient Seabird Nests

Rayadito de Masafuera:

Safe nesting sites for the critically endangered Masafuera Rayadito are threatened by the shrinking native vegetation and introduced rats and cats. Endemic to Alejandro Selkirk Island within the Juan Fernandez Archipelago, rayaditos nest only at high elevations within crevices and tree cavities. Oikonos and Island Conservation designed and installed customized nest boxes to provide more nesting habitat for the Rayadito across the island.

Vision

Recovery and stability of bird populations is contingent on the safe nesting habitat available to them. Innovative nests are a clear conservation solution, with over 10 years of data demonstrating their effectiveness. We aim to grow and customize these programs to benefit threatened bird habitat globally.

Partners and Funders:

The ceramic seabird nest program is a partnership with California College of the Arts and master ceramist Nathan Lynch, and has been funded by the Luckenbach Oil Spill Trustee Council, National Endowment for the Arts, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, and the Wilderness Conservation Society. Other partners: Windward Community College (Bryce Meyers), Hawaii Audubon, Hawaii Pacific University, Atherton Family Foundation, Disney Conservation Fund, Channel Islands National Park, Point Blue Conservation Science, California Institute of Environmental Studies. Oikonos partners with Island Conservation and CONAF in Alejandro Selkirk, and was funded by Mohamed Bin Zayed and Neotropical Bird Club y the local community.