A lot of amazing work has happened since our seminar in Tromsø in August 2023; Can people and birds be friends. At that time there were several different prototype models of kittiwake hotels that had been erected outside the Tromsø Centre for Contemporary Art. There were many pairs of kittiwakes nesting there, and they seemed happy with their new designer homes. Yet, with the drastically increasing numbers of kittiwakes fleeing their natural habitats (from 14 pairs in 2017 to 800 in 2023) there were many birds that could not fit in. They therefore tried their luck on windowsills around the city centre. Despite the gradual shift in perception, unfortunately many people are still unhappy with the increasing invasion of avian neighbours and have continued to find cruel methods for keeping the red-listed birds away, like implementing spikes and glue, pressure washing and installing hovering kites on rooftops. Recently people have started erecting slanted boards across the windowsills, so the birds cannot lounge and nest there. According to the Wild Lab projects 56% of last year’s (2024) nests were destroyed in Tromsø city center.
Luckily, the building of kittiwake hotels have escalated. The artist/architect team have been busy making more homes based on the prototypes from 2023 and financed by the municipality. This has now resulted in many stylish and colourful homes for the refugees in Tromsø, enough for 1000 new refugees.
The participants in the collaboration are Tromsø municipality, AT Arkitektur, artists Lawrence Malstaf and Kåre Grundvåg, the Tromsø Center for Contemporary Arts, researchers from NINA and Tromsø University, as well as volunteers.
If you want to read more about how the interdisciplinary work is evolving, go for a guided tour of the kittiwake hotels or help doing some important citizen science, mapping the urban kittiwake population in Tromsø, check out these links below.
- Book your guided tour of the kittiwake hotels.
- Help doing some citizen science, mapping the urban kittiwakes in Tromsø together with Rissa Citizen Science.
- See their great presentation video of the mapping HERE.
- Check out HERE how the kittiwake hotels are produced and erected.
- You can read a rapport about urban kittiwakes in Tromsø HERE.
- Are we getting rid of kittiwakes in Tromsø city center?
- Slik blir det nye fuglehotellet i Tromsø: – Spektakulært prosjekt
The videos below have kindly been made and shared by artist and designer Lawrence Malstaf. Feature image is also by Lawrence.
