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2023 Survey Found Eurasian Tree Sparrows in 7.8% of a Beijing Swift Tower’s Usable Boxes

A common swift retreating from an occupied nest box
Conservation · Management

A purpose-built swift tower in Beijing, China’s Olympic Forest Park failed to attract the Beijing subspecies of common swift (Apus apus pekinensis). Instead, Eurasian tree sparrows (Passer montanus) occupied 137 of the 1,763 undamaged nest boxes surveyed in July 2023, an occupancy rate of 7.8 percent.

The 21.42-metre tower was built in connection with preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and contains 2,240 artificial boxes arranged on five levels. Researchers recorded whether boxes were used by tree sparrows and compared box height, orientation and entrance shape. No other bird species, including common swifts, was recorded using the boxes.

Tree sparrows used boxes around 8.4 metres above ground most often and showed higher use of south- and east-facing boxes than north-facing ones. Circular entrances accounted for 68.6 percent of occupied boxes, while elliptical entrances were also used more often than rectangular or triangular openings.

When Lin Sidan and Liang Wei compared the tower with designs that have successfully attracted common swifts elsewhere, they identified several mismatches. Successful swift boxes are generally flatter, positioned on building façades at least five to seven metres above ground, provided with an unobstructed flight path and protected from excessive direct sunlight. The authors also noted that the tower’s boxes were densely arranged and that oversized openings could have facilitated sparrow occupation.

The authors considered competition from tree sparrows as another possible contributor to the absence of swifts, but stated that this requires further confirmation. Their main conclusion was that nest-box design and placement need to reflect the target species’ nesting requirements if artificial structures are to function as intended.

Sources and image credit

  1. Lin, S., & Liang, W. (2026). Nest box characteristics lead to the swift tower intended for breeding of common swifts (Apus apus pekinensis) being usurped by Eurasian tree sparrows (Passer montanus). Journal of Resources and Ecology, 17(3), 795–801. https://doi.org/10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2026.03.011Primary peer-reviewed article. The journal page lists 30 May 2026 as the publication date. The study surveyed 2,240 nest boxes in Olympic Forest Park, Beijing; 477 damaged boxes were excluded and Eurasian tree sparrows occupied 137 of 1,763 usable boxes (7.8%), while no common swifts occupied the tower.

Image: Philip Heron (Fsphil) / Wikimedia Commons — common swift retreating after inspecting an occupied nest box, 30 May 2009; representative image, not from the Beijing study · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

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Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus Explore species Common Swift Apus apus Explore species

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