I didn't observed that for Barn Swallow. But, in West Bengal, India, House sparrow, common myna and rock pigeon favours human settlement to build their nest in localities.

Thank you for your help. 

Yours sincerely, 

Anders Pape Møller 

I've seen song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) activating automatic doors to gain access to large grocery stores (e.g., Walmart) where they are apparently roosting (and possibly nesting) in the ceiling supports.

Thank you very much. 

All the best wishes, 

Anders 

Dear Andra Doherty, 

Do you know how many individuals triggered the sensor, and was this behaviour observed in just one or multiple years? 

Thank you, 

Anders Pape Møller 

Dear Anders,

for a new movie, which is shown in the exposition of the Swiss Ornithological Institute, Marc Tschudin recorded house sparrows (Passer domesticus), which use motion detectors to get into a building of the Swiss Paraplegic Centre in Nottwil, Switzerland.

Yours sincerely,

Vanja Michel

Dear Vanja, 

Thank you so much for your help. This is really useful information. 

All the best wishes for the weekend, 

Anders

Dear Vanja, 

Do you have information on the number of individual males and females involved? Were there door opening birds in more than one year? Did the door opening birds attract other birds by giving calls? 

Once again, thank you, 

Anders

Yes, there was (one?) breeding pair of Barn swallow in the Czech Republic. There will be a documentary movie (also) about this behaviour very soon. The name is Planeta Česko (Planet Czechia). See the trailer of this movie here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nryf2kbGE4E), In 1:20, you can see Barn swallows.

Hello, Anders,

Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) in the United States were reported to knowingly trigger sensor doors at a Home Depot store in Maple Grove in the state of Minnesota. At Maple Grove, the parent birds nested several years in a row, including when the article was published. The nest was on a beam over the doors or nearby, I don't recall which. The swallows flew back and forth or in circles at the upper part of the automatic doors to open them, for entering and exiting. I don't know whether there was more than one pair, or whether the behavior is continuing.

When I worked for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, I read about this in "Fish and Wildlife News" - the news magazine written by and about USFWS employees. This was about 10 years ago. You could try phoning the that Home Depot store (763) 494-0117 and asking the manager.  Here is a link to the magazine: (https://www.fws.gov/home/fwn/) and the current editor is:  [email protected]    (underscore between first and last name)  Perhaps he could provide a link to the archived issue and article.

Best wishes in your research.

In Peru I have observed basically passerines

Best

Hola César,

Sorry, but your message was incomplete.

All the best wishes,

Anders Pape Møller 

Oh. Sorry

Ok, here i go

Nesting in buildings in Peru: American Kestrel, Barn Owl, Rock Dove (a plague), Blue-and-white Swallow, House Sparrow

In Chile: Kelp Gull, Rock Dove (a plague), House wren.

These nests are usually outside buildings, not inside

About whether they activate motion detectors on doors, I think it depends on how sensitive the motion detector is. I'm thinking of motion detectors of trap cameras that can photograph even small mice and lizards.

In any case, we know of collisions between birds and windows pane but I have never heard or seen anything similar on access doors to buildings.

All the best wishes

Cesar

My colleague, Bob Brockie, published a review of House Sparrows, Passer domesticus, using motion detectors on doors to gain entrance inside.

https://notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_51_1_52.pdf

Hello, 

I've seen this behaviour in magpies in Seoul, South Korea. They used motion detectors to get to the trash of a food shop.

Amael

Dear Amael, 

Thank you very much. Could you please provide approximate date, exact location and number of individuals involved?

All the best wishes,

Anders