[Tweeters] Where have all the Swallows gone?

[Ruth Richards via Tweeters]

We have had to reduce entry holes to 1” because the House Sparrows were able to enter a 1-1/8 opening, which surprised us but we couldn’t argue with their success in getting in. Our location is not ideal for Swallows, though they have at least checked out the boxes in the past. It’s not clear whether the hole reduction eliminated them as well from this location. Chickadees have moved in, some years.

Ruth Richards
Coupeville


> On Jul 22, 2024, at 09:32, teinberger via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> 

> I saw an eBird-record 178 swallows at Discovery Park (168 in the general South Meadow area). I saw some on Capitol Hill yesterday and good numbers at Union Bay and Lake Union Park Saturday.

> 

>> On Jul 22, 2024, at 9:01 AM, Carlos Andersen via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>> 

>> 

>> Here on our property on Whidbey we have seen a good amount of Swallows. Actually an increase over the past few years.  Trees, Barns, Cliffs and some VGs. We have a pasture so they have good feeding opportunities. I have been battling the House Sparrows for a couple years now. We have five nest boxes spread out and the male House Sparrows try to defend and possess all of these boxes. Once they finally pick a box, and stop harassing all the other birds that are trying to occupy a box, I wait and then keep removing their nests. The sparrow are pretty industrious.  If I remove their nest in the morning they just rebuild it by the end of the day. I now take the nest material a good distance from the box. One House Wren took over a sparrow box and threw all the eggs out!  Impressive!  

>> One thing that got me started on this was a couple years ago I found in a box a dead adult VG that a sparrow had killed. 

>> 

>> As we have farm animals close next door on the neighbors property, with lots of feed on the ground, the House Sparrows get established and multiply quickly, as do the rodents. I can see waves of sparrows of up to about 15 flying around. Trapping and dispatching the House Sparrows is now unfortunately becoming a viable option. 

>> 

>> At Deer Lagoon Preserve we feel the numbers have increased as there are tons of insects for them to eat. In the evening the swallow numbers are truly impressive. 

>> 

>> Carlos

>> 

>> On Jul 22, 2024, at 08:34, Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>> 

>> Steve, thanks for another perspective, and I know House Sparrows have been shown to be involved in displacing swallows. But interestingly, House Sparrows have also declined dramatically in Seattle, I think not just in our wooded neighborhood. When we first moved here, we had them in the yard all the time, thronging our feeders day after day. In the summer of 1996, up to 30 birds visited the feeders at once. By 2010, they were in the yard only occasionally, and the last ones we saw were a family that visited the yard briefly in June 2021. And we’re watching those feeders every day when we’re in town.

>> 

>> In this species, I presume a loss of nest sites may have caused the decline, so that could be a cause of at least some of the swallow decline as well. It would be interesting to hear from other people how swallows and sparrows have fared in their neighborhoods.

>> 

>> Dennis

>> 

>>> On Jul 22, 2024, at 7:56 AM, Steve Hampton <stevechampton at gmail.com <mailto:stevechampton at gmail.com>> wrote:

>>> 

>>> Here in Port Townsend, I agree that swallow nesting sites seem quite limited. I wonder about the prevalence of House Sparrows -- many people feed seed (especially white millet) thru the summer, attracting hordes of House Sparrows with seemingly extraordinary reproductive success. It's easy to see groups of 20, most of whom fresh juveniles.

>>> 

>>> House Sparrows can be quite aggressive in taking over nest cavities and even actively killing chicks of swallows, chickadees, wrens, etc. They nest in birdhouses with too-large holes, or in old houses. 

>>> 

>>> Locally, I'm about to start a "Project 1-1/8th inch" to retrofit birdhouses with hole reducers -- basically thresholds that can be screwed onto the outside of a nest box, reducing the hole diameter to 1-1/8th". This should eliminate House Sparrows, but be suitable for smaller native species. Here's an example of a hole reducer: 

>>> https://nature-niche.com/collections/bird-house-accessories/products/1-125-diameter-portal-for-chickadee-houses-genuine-copper

>>> 

>>> good birding, 

>>> 

>>> 

>>> On Mon, Jul 22, 2024 at 7:29 AM Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu <mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>> wrote:

>>>> Hans, I think swallows have disappeared from much of the Seattle urban/suburban area. Barn and Violet-green were all over the city 40-50 years ago. When we moved into our present house in Maple Leaf in 1991, we had Barn, Violet-green and sometimes Tree over the house on a regular basis, also Vaux’s Swifts. Within a decade or so all had disappeared, and our sky was empty of these birds, never to be seen again. As I drove around town, I noticed the same thing. Both Barn and Violet-green had been in most neighborhoods, but not anymore. These two species nested on buildings, on ledges or in holes, and I wondered if there was a movement to tidy up houses that was eliminating their potential nest sites.

>>>> 

>>>> But I suspect it has much more to do with the decline of small flying insects over that time, not a thing that is obvious to us, earthbound as we are. We still have a few subsidized colonies of Purple Martins, but they are feeding largely on wasps and bees, which are still around, and dragonflies, which they can find by flying some distance from their nests.

>>>> 

>>>> Dennis Paulson

>>>> Seattle

>>>> 

>>>>> On Jul 22, 2024, at 12:20 AM, Hans-Joachim Feddern via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu <mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>> wrote:

>>>>> 

>>>>> Has anyone else noticed that there seem to be less swallows around? We normally have a good number of Violet-green Swallows over the lakes here in Twin Lakes in Federal Way. By this time of the year they have finished breeding and we see more Barn Swallows. Also a couple of pairs of Northern Rough-winged Swallows are present with an occasional Tree Swallow mixed in. Over the last month or longer, I have not seen a swallow of any species on most days. What is up? Are we looking at a decline? How is it in other areas around Puget Sound?

>>>>> 

>>>>> Good Birding!

>>>>> 

>>>>> Hans

>>>>> 

>>>>> --

>>>>> Hans Feddern

>>>>> Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA

>>>>> thefedderns at gmail.com <mailto:thefedderns at gmail.com>

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>>> 

>>> --

>>> ​Steve Hampton​

>>> Port Townsend, WA  (qatáy)

>>> 

>>> 

>> 

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