Looking for harmony between kittiwakes and their urban neighbours
Making peace with the Tyne’s nesting kittiwakes is innovative project’s goal. Tony Henderson reports
A study is to explore how the Tyne’s kittiwake nesting colony can better co-exist with people, residents and businesses along the riverfront.
Every year, around 1,700-1,800 pairs of kittiwakes return to breed along the river with many nesting in urban areas of Gateshead and Newcastle, including the Tyne Bridge, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
Many welcome the birds as an increasingly famous wildlife addition to urban life with the colony attracting artists, authors and photographers.
But others object to the noise and mess caused by hundreds of breeding pairs of kittiwakes, leading to some businesses installing deterrents such as spikes, net and avishock systems.
Now, a groundbreaking research project aims to explore the kittiwakes’ role in urban ecology and propose innovative strategies to ensure the birds can breed successfully alongside people in the future.
The project is calling for people in the North East to send video footage, pictures and audio clips of the kittiwakes, taken at any time over the last 10 years.
This will help the team to build up a picture of how the birds are currently sharing the quayside area with people.
The research has been awarded a Design Exchange Partnership as part of the the Future Observatory: Design the Green Transition fund led by London’s Design Museum and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
The longer term aim is to devise a framework that promotes harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife.
The project will encourage local communities to join in workshops, creating solutions alongside residents, ornithologists, and urban planners.
The project team brings together experts from architecture, urban studies, computer science, and ornithology, and is led by Dr Jiayi Jin, assistant professor of Architecture and Urban Studies at Northumbria University.
She will be joined by Northumbria colleagues Dr Bing Zhai, from the Department of Computer and Information Sciences who will lead machine learning and bird identification and Dr Ayse Ozbil Torun from the Department of Architecture and Built Environment.
The team will be supported by North Shields ornithologist Dan Turner, a kittiwake research expert from the Natural History Society of Northumbria.
Dan and the academic team will lead public activities in collaboration with Newcastle’s Wild Intrigue which conducts public kittiwake “safaris”, and Gateshead’s Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
By combining scientific research, urban planning, and public participation, the study will help to position Newcastle and Gateshead as global leaders in biodiversity-friendly urban development.
As part of the project there will be an art and an architecture competition.
The first public event will take place on Thursday February 20, from 6pm to 8pm at Newcastle University’s Farrell Centre.
For more information about the project or to get involved contact Dr Jiayi Jin by email on jiayi.jin@northumbria.ac.uk