People aren't the only ones in Bermuda with housing problems.

A current Longtail housing crisis has prompted Government to make new longtail nesting boxes available later this year. The work is made possible by a conservation grant from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Britain.

"The number of nest sites has decreased, and there are too many birds for the habitats available,'' said Government Conservation officer Dr. David Wingate.

He urged everyone living on the waterfront to consider buying a box when they are made available in September.

The houses will work on the same principle as a bluebird box and will be made of SKB styrofoam domes coated with fibre-bond cement.

"The advantages of the styrofoam dome are that it is very quick and easy to produce and install and the styrofoam insulates the inside from intense heat,'' Dr. Wingate said.

"Longtails see the dark, inviting hole and go in -- it doesn't matter if the space is artificial. All they need is a one square foot enclosure with a sandy bottom on the coast and they are happy.

"And if the hole is safe, they can nest as close to people as people want them to.'' Dr. Wingate has already begun testing the new boxes on Castle Island. Of 35 boxes, most have already been visited and some even colonised.

"The project is going very well,'' he recently told The Royal Gazette .

"It usually takes two or three years for a longtail to colonise a nest site, after which it becomes their nest for the rest of their life -- and they live for about 10 to 20 years.'' Installation of the boxes only requires cementing them to a cliff top after excavating a hemispheric depression. The box can also be covered with natural debris to camoflauge it.

And Dr. Wingate stressed that the boxes were only suitable for cliff tops and retaining walls so that they would be inaccessible to household predators.

"Longtails are neither naturally afraid nor aggressive,'' he said.

"They have no fear of cats or dogs or people, so we have to think for them.'' He also warned that people should not stick their hands in nest holes as longtails will aggressively defend their nests.

The longtail season begins in March when the birds return from the sea. They tend to lay their eggs in April and May, which hatch by May or June. The chicks fledge anywhere from the end of July to as late as November.

"They are around Bermuda all through the summer months,'' Dr. Wingate said.

"In the winter, they tend to retreat to the south of Bermuda, but they stay out in the ocean.'' As ocean-dwelling birds that feed on fish, longtails only need land for nesting.

The longtail is the only sea bird from the pre-colonial era that survives in reasonable numbers. But the population has decreased since the 1950s.

Dr. Wingate said that numbers are declining for several reasons, including human interference such as development of the coastline.

But natural factors like global warming and rising sea levels have also contributed to the problem.

"The sea level may have come up as much as seven inches since 1932, and consequently low nesting sites very near to the water have been flooded,'' Dr.

Wingate said.

Oil pollution in the Sargasso Sea which surrounds Bermuda in the 1970s also damaged the population.

"These problems interfere with the hatching success of longtails,'' he said.

100 boxes will become available in September after the necessary preparations are made and are expected to be sold at cost for $50.

Dr. Wingate said installation was best done during the winter months while longtails are away.

The Bermuda Audubon Society, who also helped fund the project, will also put up a number of the houses on nature reserves.

"Considering all of the problems they face, the population is still very healthy,'' Dr. Wingate said.

"But we still must make efforts to find a place for these longtails to live.'' Winging it: Shoreline development and population pressure is taking a atoll on Bermuda's longtails, with fewer cliffside nesting sites becoming available.

Government, with he help of a British grant, is bringing in artificial nest to help ease the shortage and is planning to make the boxes available to the public for a nominal fee.

ENVIRONMENT ENV