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Bird impacts on heritage buildings

Bird impacts on heritage buildings There is much anecdotal evidence that birds and their droppings are a major problem for the heritage profession. The purpose of this paper is to examine how serious heritage practitioners consider the bird impact to be.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted of 59 Australian heritage professionals of between one and >20 year’s experience in the field.FindingsBird impacts were not considered of major concern to buildings. The longer experience a practitioner had, the less likely the impacts were considered an issue. Feral pigeons were deemed the most problematic, followed by cockatoos, starlings, swallows, seagulls, mynas, sparrows, cormorants, ibis, ducks and birds of prey. The professionals ranked common deterrent methods. The highest-ranking deterrents were bird netting and bird spikes, but they were only considered moderately effective. The costs of installation and maintenance, as well the ease of installation, were all deemed significantly less important than the physical impact, the aesthetic sympathy and the effectiveness of a deterrent method.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that the impact of birds on buildings in Australia may be of less concern than previously thought, and may be driven by other factors (i.e. aesthetics, commercial companies) rather than actual effects.Originality/valueThis is first study of its kind that surveyed the experiences of a wide range of heritage practitioners. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development Emerald Publishing

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References (48)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2044-1266
DOI
10.1108/jchmsd-07-2016-0042
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

There is much anecdotal evidence that birds and their droppings are a major problem for the heritage profession. The purpose of this paper is to examine how serious heritage practitioners consider the bird impact to be.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted of 59 Australian heritage professionals of between one and >20 year’s experience in the field.FindingsBird impacts were not considered of major concern to buildings. The longer experience a practitioner had, the less likely the impacts were considered an issue. Feral pigeons were deemed the most problematic, followed by cockatoos, starlings, swallows, seagulls, mynas, sparrows, cormorants, ibis, ducks and birds of prey. The professionals ranked common deterrent methods. The highest-ranking deterrents were bird netting and bird spikes, but they were only considered moderately effective. The costs of installation and maintenance, as well the ease of installation, were all deemed significantly less important than the physical impact, the aesthetic sympathy and the effectiveness of a deterrent method.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that the impact of birds on buildings in Australia may be of less concern than previously thought, and may be driven by other factors (i.e. aesthetics, commercial companies) rather than actual effects.Originality/valueThis is first study of its kind that surveyed the experiences of a wide range of heritage practitioners.

Journal

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable DevelopmentEmerald Publishing

Published: Jan 26, 2018

Keywords: Preventive conservation; Heritage buildings; Conservation theory and practice; Architectural conservation; Bird behaviour; Commensal birds

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