Saving birds is now in your hands

Get ready to build a bird house

"Can a bird leave a cage?" Viren Vaz shoots a rhetoric when asked to elucidate the basic difference between a birdhouse and a cage. "When you make a birdhouse, you are actually putting a nesting spot for a bird, hoping that it will like it and live in it," shares the city-based software professional who moonlights as a tinkerer, conducting carpentry and woodwork workshops. This Saturday, Vaz will host a birdhouse-building workshop at Maker's Asylum.

Get ready to build a bird house

Participants will be provided with timber, woodworking tools and instructions to help build birdhouses for different species including sparrows, magpie robin, myna, parrots, barn owls, etc. As a trained volunteer with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Vaz will use his expertise to inform participants about their nesting habits. For instance, sparrows don't enter a birdhouse with a bigger entrance hole or a birdhouse for parrots needs to be perched a little higher on trees.

Viren Vaz will guide you through the process

"The population of birds, especially sparrows, which nest in cavities has dwindled over time. A birdhouse can help increase their numbers. That's the primary goal of the workshop. Since sparrows don't nest alone, when you make a birdhouse, you are providing shelter to three to four sparrows at a time," shares Vaz, who has placed sparrow birdhouses under the parapet of a window at his home. "Depending on the placement of the birdhouse, one can either make it out of wood or scrap material like tins," he informs. Limited to eight participants, prior registration is necessary for the workshop.

On: December 26, 11 am to 4 pm
At: Maker's Asylum, Road no 21, opposite Passport Seva Kendra, MIDC, Marol Industrial Area, Andheri (E).
Cost: Rs 2,500
Log on to: imojo.in/birdhouse
Call: 8087479055