By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com
Two types of swallows enjoyed more housing options in Yachats this year, thanks to the work of residents Jim Welch and Wally Orchard.
In early spring, as part of project SWIFTY (Swallows In Flight To Yachats), the pair installed 54 new nesting boxes designed for use by tree and violet-green swallows. In addition to these, the local men report knowing of another 50 or so swallow boxes in town and in the Yachats River Valley.
Despite the new nests — which are raised on poles to provide protection against predators — the number of returning tree and violet-green swallows was much lower than in prior years. According to Paul Thompson, who manages 12 nesting boxes at the state’s Tami Wagner wildlife refuge along the Yachats River, the major Oregon fires along the swallow migration path last fall may have played a role in the reduced population.
Sadly, all the boxes showed “an unusually high rate of nestling mortality,” said Orchard.
He surmised that exceptionally hot weather during the nesting season may have been to blame. A shortage of insects during the nesting season might be another factor. Thompson speculated that some bird parents may have abandoned their young because there was insufficient food for the entire family.
“While the number of nestling deaths was worrying, the successes were encouraging,” Orchard said in a season-end report on the project. Of the 103 boxes known (including 54 new ones), there were 50 with swallow nests, which yielded 124 successful young.
Almost all the swallow nests were inhabited by the two types of tree swallows, which are common summer migrants in the area. The targeted swallows are known for their “dive-bomber” flying as they feed on insects in the air; they can consume thousands of mosquitoes in a day.
Orchard and Welch have reached out to Dennis Comfort, coast region manager of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. As a result of Comfort’s interest in SWIFTY, the two Yachatians hope to build more nesting boxes next year, mainly in the Beaver Creek area. Target species will be tree and violet-green swallows, purple Martins, wood ducks, mergansers and some owls.
The cost of materials needed for the boxes was met by donations totaling $1,400 from many local residents and about $400 is left over for next year’s project.
