The Dutch bird protection agency Vogelbescherming has urged Dutch citizens to leave birds in peace during the spring breeding season. In France and Belgium citizens are removing nests of birds such as swallows from their barns and homes amid fears of the H5N1 bird flu virus. Vogelbescherming emphasizes that such actions are totally unnecessary because swallows are not in the risk group of birds thus far affected by the virus. According to the group, there is no reason to fear these birds.
Swallows are on the Dutch list of threatened birds, and any unnatural disturbance of their nests during breeding season could prove fatal for the species in the Netherlands. Swallows will be returning to the Netherlands in the coming weeks from their winter homes in Africa. Swallows are very beneficial to humans because they are huge consumers of flies and mosquitoes.
Last week Vogelbescherming spoke out against potential mishandling of stork nests due to bird flu fears. Like swallows, storks do not play a role in the spread of H5N1 so far and thus should not be disturbed.
