Worcester could soon be alive with the sound of birdsong, thanks to local environmental charity, the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust.

Jim Haywood, the financial director of Severn Waste Services, which funded the boxes through the Landfill Communities Fund, said: "Through the hard work of Bill Richardson who administers this funding for the company, the project has gone very well, and we have distributed boxes to churches, village halls, primary schools, several National Trust properties and many a number of other organisations."

The trust has put up an owl box in Fort Royal Park and more nest boxes will be distributed in city parks, on Chapter Meadows and along Bromwich Parade on the banks of the Severn. Many different species will be catered for, including, robins, sparrows, owls, tits and kestrels.

Put a little help out for the birds

Roisin Hanks, project manager for the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust, said she was grateful for the boxes and one in particular. "We have had kestrels nesting in a tree on Chapter Meadows for many years but unfortunately the branch where the nest was placed rotted and fell down.

"We hope that a nest box on the same tree may prove to be a suitable replacement."

The works were completed before the end of January, in time for National Nestbox Week, which runs from Valentine’s Day, each year, when tradition has it, small birds pair up ahead of the breeding season.

The populations of many bird species have shrunk as they are increasingly unable to find suitable natural homes. Our gardens, parks and woodland are neater and tidier, depriving birds of natural holes and other nesting sites and there are fewer handy nooks and crannies in modern buildings.

The campaign encourages everyone to put up nest boxes in their local area to help declining bird populations.