Respite Among the Warblers

Or just going to the birds

Can you picture a modern hotel room suspended several meters above your head cloistered within a forest? There is one such place in Sweden called the Tree Hotel where travelers who are fed up with city buildings and acres of concrete can find an escape. This innovative windowed room serves as an outlet for both wildlife and humans.

The mentioned room is known as the “Biosphere” and contains 340 birdhouses enveloping the outside exterior. A Danish architectural studio, aptly named Big (possibly for the big idea that created this concept) is responsible for this wonder. The Tree Hotel is located in a remote forest in the Swedish Lapland. This area of Sweden is known as the land of the midnight sun and Northern Lights. In the Lapland, there are many different and interesting topographies. This area is home to a myriad of mountains, forests, marshes, wild rivers, and archipelagos.

The aim of such an innovative room is to motivate visitors to install birdhouses in their own homes. This serves as wonderful encouragement at a time when bird populations are experiencing a decline. I first realized the plight of birds while reading an emotional poem, the type of literature that makes you immeasurably sad and cognizant at the same time, “I don’t want to look up and see a silent sky…” Wild birds suffer greatly as the climate continues its dramatic spiral downward. This situation, along with pesticides, pollination, and seed dispersal is causing disruption in the ecosystem. Domestic and feral cats…