[Tweeters] Where have all the Swallows gone?

[HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters]

First, isn't this a Peter, Paul, and Mary Tune?
 
Where we have lived , swallows have been in decline for a long time. In the early 90s we had Barn Swallows nesting on our front porch and in the barn.  After a few years, all gone.   
 
We had Trees and Violet Greens that nested in boxes all through the yard and pasture. Gone by about 2010.  At our new place, admittedly on saltwater, we have the occasional flyby and the nest boxes looked at once in 8 years.
 
I would echo Dennis and not put, at least for our personal situation, the blame on House Sparrows.  We had few at the old house and none here.  One year, they used a nest box after the swallows.  In one year, they did destroy a swallow nest.  They only nested in the boxes one other year out of about 25.  
 
Perhaps the problem is on the wintering grounds.
 
Hal Michael
Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net
 
 


> On 07/22/2024 8:33 AM PDT 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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