Estepona installs bird and bat boxes to control insect pests

The Estepona City Council has installed six nesting boxes for bats and the owl species known as scops owls in the public parks of 'Los Abuelos' and Seghers, a measure aimed at facilitating the presence of these species in urban environments to combat insect plagues, as reported by the Council this Thursday.

This measure was requested by the naturalist group Sierra Bermeja ‘Grunsber’, the City Council clarified in a statement, noting that municipal operational brigades have placed these shelters to create urban habitats for these two species classified as ‘vulnerable’.

Representatives from ‘Grunsber’ have pointed out that all bat species are protected by various laws, both national and community-wide. In our country, there are also several species considered ‘vulnerable’ and one of them is endangered.

On the other hand, the European scops owl is the smallest of our nocturnal raptors and is also considered a vulnerable species, according to the Red Book of Birds of Spain 2021.

Both the scops owl and several species of bats readily accept artificial refuges, which is why the Naturalist Group ‘Grunsber’ has deemed the installation of these nesting boxes appropriate and convenient to facilitate the presence of these species in the urban environment.

Combat insect plagues

Leaders of this group have assured that both species are very beneficial for the control of insect plagues. Bats, being highly voracious animals, can keep insect populations in check to prevent them from becoming plagues.

This is particularly important, according to ‘Grunsber’, to prevent the presence of exotic species that could be dangerous, such as the tiger mosquito or the yellow fever mosquito.

In the case of the European scops owl, it is also beneficial for human communities as it is a great predator of insects, since its diet is primarily based on sizable invertebrates, such as moths, crickets, grasshoppers, and cockroaches, among others.