Proposal:Nesting Site

The Feature Page for this approved proposal is located at tag:man_made=nesting_site

Swallows tower in Bernstadt (Southern Germany)

Nesting Site
Proposal status:	Approved (active)
Proposed by:	Phoks
Tagging:	man_made=nesting_site Data item
Applies to:
Definition:	A man made nesting aid that is mounted on a support=* device.
Statistics:
Rendered as:
Draft started:	2016-09-20 (by the Ulmer Alb mapping group)
RFC start:	2016-11-08
Vote start:	2016-12-05
Vote end:	2016-12-19

Rationale

A man_made=nesting_site is man made device equipped with one or multiple nests, serving as an artificial nesting aid for wild animals (mostly birds), compensating the reduction of traditional nesting opportunities. The proposal is motivated by the sighting of swallows towers in Germany.

In German, for naming nestings aids for swallows the terms Schwalbenhaus (swallows house) or Schwalbenturm (swallows tower) are used, as described in Wikipedia. . Nesting aids for common swifts can also be found.

The proposed tagging should be used only for man made, this means artificial nesting aids. It is not intended to be used for any kind of natural nests. It's also not meant for other man made devices that "accidently" carry an animal nest, e.g. like "misused" power towers and chimneys for bird nesting.

The tagging is quite generalized, so it may be used for other species' (not birds) nesting aids, too. But primarily, this proposal is meant for man made bird nesting sites.

A couple of nesting sites have already been mapped in different ways:

man_made=mast
birds_nest=swallow

building=roof
name=Schwalbenhaus

man_made=tower
tower:type=bird_nesting

None of the used tagging methods seems to be fully appropriate to tag a nesting site in general. So, a new tag is proposed to be introduced.

For dovecotes an already established tag exists: man_made=dovecote. Doves are farmed, i.e. domesticated. The man_made=nesting_site proposal, in contrast, focuses on nesting aids for wild animals.

Proposal

A single node particularized with capacity=2 can be used in this case

A single node can be used in this case

Many single nodes or an area may be used here

For mapping the nesting site itself, the tag man_made=nesting_site should be used.

Nesting poles for storks provided by Caceres municipality (Spain).

Optionally, a support=* can be given to tell about the mounting of the nesting site, e.g. a pole or a wall.

Then, the nesting site may be optionally specialized for the species, using species=*.

Nest for bats (Netherlands).

Additionally, a capacity=* can be given, as nesting sites with a different number of nests have been sighted.

Plate fixed at the mast

"Misused" towers should not be tagged as nesting sites.

Tagging

Here is the summarized proposed tagging:

man_made=nesting_site
support=* (mounting of the nesting site, optional)
species=* (species, optional)
capacity=* (number of mounted nests, optional)

As type a node or an area can be used. Node will fit best for single nesting sites. Area fits well, if a conglomerate of nesting sites has been deployed.

Examples

Here's an example for a nesting colony mounted on a pole:

man_made=nesting_site
support=pole
species=Delichon urbicum
species:en=Common house martin
species:de=Mehlschwalbe
material=metal
capacity=44
name=Liberty City Bird Hotel

For a wall mounted nesting site a proper adaption may be:

man_made=nesting_site
support=wall_mounted
species:de=Rauchschwalbe
capacity=3

For an artificial white storks nesting site deployed on a roof the tagging may be

man_made=nesting_site
support=roof
species=Ciconia ciconia
capacity=1

Animal Protection

As already stated in the rationale above, man_made=nesting_site should only be used for artificial nesting aids. Please think about possible consequences (e.g. vandalism) when tagging a nesting site. Use the following rules as a guideline:

• You should map nesting sites that act as landmarks
• You should map well visible nesting site constructions in urban areas
• You should not map natural nesting sites
• You should not map nesting aids for endangered birds
• You should not map economically used animal nestings without asking the owner; these are not in the focus of this proposal, anyway
• You should not tag the species=* for endangered animals

These guidelines are based on common mapping ethics. Please also refer to the many discussions about this topic.

External Resources

The agricultural and environmental analysis company AGROFOR specialized on manufacturing swallows towers as nesting sites. The company states that around 300 of their masts have been deployed to date.

The German newspaper Südwestpresse constitutes that some villages in southern Germany mounted swallows towers, and that another 20 towers are scheduled to be erected.

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.

Voting

Voting closed

Voting on this proposal has been closed.

It was approved with 26 votes for and 1 vote against.

More than required 74 % approval.

• I approve this proposal. --EneaSuper (talk) 10:47, 14 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Johnny Mapperseed (talk) 04:48, 11 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Rdell (talk) 13:48, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Meillo (talk) 08:55, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Escada (talk) 09:05, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Waldhans (talk) 09:05, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Gendy54 (talk) 13:13, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Phoks (talk) 16:40, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Roadsguy ^(talk) 17:33, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Looniverse (talk) 20:12, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Nospam2005 (talk) 21:30, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Yvanoé (talk) 10:29, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --RoGer6 (talk) 10:53, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Reino.baptista (talk) 17:04, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Dr Centerline (talk) 19:38, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --OSM Peter (talk) 21:08, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Highflyer74 (talk) 09:18, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Kazing (talk) 11:13, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Strehm (talk) 19:25, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Banze (talk) 19:38, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Scaro (talk) 20:20, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Akatinha (talk) 10:05, 10 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Foxandpotatoes (talk) 08:49, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Dieterdreist (talk) 09:08, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
• I approve this proposal. --Valerietheblonde (talk) 12:05, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. I disagree with the suggestion, because I fear that then nests of birds that need peace and quiet in the breeding season could be mapped. It often happens that tags were generously designed. There are people who are of the opinion that everything you can see, must also be mapped. On the other hand, there are interested nature photographers etc. who would like to find these places.

Original:Ich stimme gegen den Vorschlag, weil ich befürchte das dann auch Nester von Vögeln, die zur Brutzeit ihre absolute Ruhe brauchen kartiert werden könnten. Es ist schon häufig passiert, dass tags großzügig ausgelegt wurden. Es gibt Leute die der Meinung sind das alles was man sehen kann auch gemapped werden sollte. Andererseits gibt es Interessen von Naturfotografen (um nur die harmlosesten zu nennen) diese Plätze ausfindig zu machen. --geozeisig (talk) 07:19, 14 December 2016 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for speaking up with your opinion! --Meillo (talk) 08:11, 14 December 2016 (UTC)

I don't share your preoccupation because this is a tag for man made nesting sites, not for natural bird nests without human intervention. Using this tag for the latter would be misuse of the tag against the definition. --Dieterdreist (talk) 20:43, 30 December 2016 (UTC)

• I approve this proposal. --sorcrosc 20:40, 14 December 2016 (UTC)