Archive for July, 2006
New Straits Times, Malaysia - Jul 12, 2006
13 Jul 2006
Chok Suat Ling and Himanshu Bhatt
The lucrative bird’s nest business has come under fire from people who claim it is a health hazard and a threat to heritage. But entrepreneurs say the industry is misunderstood and should be allowed to develop, write CHOK SUAT LING and HIMANSHU BHATT.
MANY owners of “swiftlet hotels” in the country are laughing all the way to the bank. But others are less amused.
Over the last few years, getting swiftlets to roost in converted buildings has become big business as entrepreneurs cash in on the strong demand for bird’s nests, mainly from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.
The nests, made from the saliva of Aerodamus fuciphagus, are said to be excellent for the complexion and in promoting respiratory and gastric health.
The swiftlet uses its spit to string together small gauze-like nests which are the main ingredient of bird’s nest soup, a Chinese delicacy.
The “bird-houses” started flourishing in the 1990s. There are now an estimated 30,000 such “swiftlet hotels” in the country, although not all have been successful in attracting the birds.
With the retail price of bird’s nest ranging from RM4,000 to RM5,000 a kilo, depending on its quality, it is no wonder that entrepreneurs are willing to spend tens of thousands of ringgit to convert old, sometimes abandoned, buildings, into homes for swiftlets.
The buildings are fitted with humidifiers and stereo systems that play recorded bird-calls to lure the birds, which normally roost in isolated caves.
Badan Warisan Malaysia believes that while the economic arguments for a bird’s nest industry may be strong, the need to protect heritage architecture and ensure a healthy environment is stronger.
Its executive director, Elizabeth Cardosa, says converting a heritage building into a “bird-house” is not only inappropriate but has many other deleterious effects.
Special conditions have to be created to encourage swiftlets to nest in these old houses, such as boarding up windows and doors to keep out sunlight, with small openings high up on the walls for the birds to get in and out.
“In a closed environment, moisture accumulates and accelerates the decay of plaster, brick walls and timber ceilings,” Cardosa says.
“The rotting wood invites termite infestation. Bird droppings also hasten the destruction of building materials and the interior ornamentation and beautiful embellishments of heritage buildings.”
She says neighbouring houses would also be affected by droppings and the noise of recorded bird-calls.
“Eventually, residents will sell or rent their houses in the core heritage zones of Malacca and Penang. This will have a devastating effect on the development of cultural tourism.”
Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) enforcement director Misliah Bashir says the department issues licences to “swiftlet hotel” owners to harvest the nests, “but owners must first get a licence for the premises from the local authority”.
Guidelines have been issued in the past two years to ensure that local authorities have a consistent policy for the industry.
The guidelines, among others, specify that bird-houses cannot be built in residential or business areas and should be at least 100 metres from human habitats. But Misliah admits enforcement is not easy as the premises are sometimes locked up when officers arrive.
She says the chances of swiftlets contracting bird flu is minimal, allaying one immediate public concern.
“They are non-migratory and do not share flying or roosting space with other birds. Swiftlets also do not have the same food and water sources as other birds.”
Malaysian Bird’s Nest Merchants Association president Lim Theam Siew notes that several sets of guidelines have been formulated by government agencies — the Housing and Local Government Ministry, Perhilitan, and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry. But Lim say they cannot effectively regulate the industry.
“They do not understand the industry,” he says. “Some of the guidelines are not practical and would make it impossible for us to conduct our business.
“For instance, one of the requirements for a ‘bird-house’ is a fire escape. But why is that necessary when the only occupants are birds?”
In a tour of a converted shoplot in Seremban recently, Lim pointed out several bird’s nests jutting out like half-moon balconies from thin wooden planks attached to the ceiling.
Lim says owners of these “birdhouses” ensure the cleanliness of their properties as this will give them high-quality nests.
He says the association, which has a well-established membership, should be allowed to regulate the industry.
“We have the experience and can educate operators on the proper way to set up and maintain ‘bird-houses’. We teach them how to keep their premises clean and to ensure the nests are collected only when the chicks leave.
“The association has also organised seminars with participants from Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar.
“The Government can help us by doing research. Universities can formulate courses on bird’s nests. We should not be talking about licensing and regulations, but how we can create awareness.”
Cardosa says Badan Warisan does not wish to “bring the industry down”.
“If it is a viable industry, they should receive the support of the Government. Our concerns relate to the conversion of heritage properties into bird-houses.”
She notes that in Thailand and Indonesia, “bird-houses” are constructed in padi fields and near coastal areas, which do not place pressure on the cultural and heritage environment.
“At the end of the day, the question is whether we want a town or neighbourhood filled with people, or one which is potentially a ghost town filled with birds,” she says.
Penang making noise over incessant din
GEORGE TOWN: Amid the din of busy Chulia Street, one can hear the cries of swiftlets as they fly around the roof of an old shophouse with its windows and doors tightly shut.
But the urban bird’s nest harvesting business that has boomed in George Town is coming under pressure from the Government.
On Dec 31 last year, the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) imposed stringent regulations for all bird’s nest operators to apply for licences.
Most have applied, but many are unable to comply with the conditions, says Komtar assemblyman Lim Gim Soon.
One of these conditions is to keep the noise down. Sounds made by tweeter speakers to attract the swiftlets must be less than two decibels. This volume is not enough to draw as many birds as breeders would like.
Many are also unable to change their land-use status from residential to commercial. Most of the 200 breeders on Penang island are in the city and are operating in heritage buildings even though the MPPP forbids bird’s nests in places gazetted as heritage structures or zones.
Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim’s family bought a terrace shophouse on the Armenian Street heritage enclave a few years ago when they kept getting calls from strangers wanting to rent the premises to be used as “swiftlet hotels”.
Although they declined, some of their neighbours did not.
“The nests are all inside the buildings behind the casement windows,” Idaura said. “They’ve shut them out from the outside world with planks.
“But you can hear them all the time. It’s such a nuisance.”
There is also the almost incessant noise of the electronic tweeters that are left on throughout the day to attract the birds.
Idaura is also concerned that over time bird droppings will mar the beautiful façade of the heritage buildings.
The Penang Heritage Trust has been receiving complaints from people living in the inner city, said its chairman Dr Choong Sim Poey.
“People buying houses in heritage areas are caught by surprise when they find there are bird breeders in the neighbourhood.”
July 18th, 2006
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune - Jul 12 12:14 PM
Q In early July, I noticed that house sparrows had moved into the nests of the cliff swallows on the west side of our building at work. Swallows occupied most of the nests through June, but after July 4, sparrows resided in most of them. Did the sparrows evict the swallows, or did the swallows have time to fledge their young, then abandon the nests?
By The Minnesota Ornithologists Union
Last update: July 12, 2006 – 1:38 PM
Q In early July, I noticed that house sparrows had moved into the nests of the cliff swallows on the west side of our building at work. Swallows occupied most of the nests through June, but after July 4, sparrows resided in most of them. Did the sparrows evict the swallows, or did the swallows have time to fledge their young, then abandon the nests?
A Because of the timing, it is difficult to say whether the nests were abandoned before the house sparrows moved in or the sparrows took over the nests.
Cliff swallows are a protected native species that begin breeding in May and breed into July. They have one or two broods.
House sparrows will use the nests of both cliff swallows and barn swallows. Sometimes house sparrows fight for the nests and kill the young cliff or barn swallows. Sometimes they move in after the young have fledged.
However, recent research suggests that house sparrows do significant damage to barn swallow nesting colonies. In Maryland, sparrows reduced the fledging success rate of one barn swallow colony by 45 percent.
Why birds form a mob
Q I’ve seen groups of crows or blackbirds dive-bomb a hawk. Why do they do that?
A The behavior, called mobbing, is very common among crows.
Crows mob hawks and owls because they perceive these birds to be a threat. And it’s true that hawks have been known to kill crows — sometimes even when being mobbed — by flipping over to strike out at an attacking crow with their powerful feet and talons. That’s why crows are careful to stay above and behind a hawk when mobbing.
Other birds that frequently chase or mob hawks are Eastern kingbirds, blue jays and red-winged blackbirds. Like crows, jays usually mob a hawk or owl with many loud attackers, while single kingbirds and blackbirds typically give chase one bird at a time. Even some small birds, such as chickadees and nuthatches, will mob owls to protect themselves and their young.
This column is prepared by Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union (MOU) members Mark Alt and Anthony Hertzel. To ask questions for this column, call 612-673-4363 and leave a brief message. Or e-mail birds@stribmail.com. Questions will be answered in the newspaper only. For information about the MOU write to: Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union, Bell Museum, 10 SE. Church St., Minneapolis, MN 55455.
July 18th, 2006
Pioneer Press - Jul 16 1:09 AM
BY JIM OLICHWIER
Pioneer Press
SPOT IT BARN SWALLOW
The barn swallow is an expert flier, spending much of the daylight hours in flight, moving at high speeds and catching insects on the wing. Its midair acrobatics are unmistakable as it turns and dips at high angles. The bird is almost constantly moving its wings, rarely gliding.
As the name suggests, the barn swallow often builds its nest in barns or near the top of buildings with overhangs, including under the roofs of houses. With its nest so close to people, the barn swallow sometimes will perceive humans as a threat. To deter any predator, real or imagined, from reaching its nest, the swallow takes swoops at high speeds until the chicks are out of danger. While the aggressive barn swallow sometimes comes close to hitting people, it usually misses.
Despite the occasional close call, the barn swallow is beneficial to have in a back yard, where it consumes large quantities of insects. Its constant flying burns a lot of energy, which requires it to eat every few minutes.
Over time, the barn swallow has evolved from building its nests on the sides of cliffs and caves to using, almost exclusively, manmade structures. The barn swallow has benefited from human interaction; the more houses and buildings there are, the more potential nesting spots.
The barn swallow nest is made of straw and mud and lined with feathers. To build it, the bird picks up small pieces of mud, works the mud into a pellet and flies it to the nest site. Some nest construction requires up to 1,000 trips.
The swallow returns to the same nest site every year, and its offspring often nest within 20 miles of where they were born.
The deep-forked tail of the barn swallow distinguishes it from other kinds of swallows. The tail is also important to females looking for mates. The longer, the better. Unpaired males may try to break up a breeding pair by killing their chicks. Such action usually wins a mate for the aggressor.
Jim Olichwier can be reached at jmolichwier@pioneerpress.com.
July 18th, 2006
davesgarden.com
One vendor has this plant for sale.
Family: Aspleniaceae
Genus: Asplenium (ass-PLEE-nee-um) (Info)
Species: nidus (NID-us) (Info)
Category:
Tropicals/Tender Perennials
Height:
12-18 in. (30-45 cm)
18-24 in. (45-60 cm)
24-36 in. (60-90 cm)
36-48 in. (90-120 cm)
4-6 ft. (1.2-1.8 m)
Spacing:
24-36 in. (60-90 cm)
36-48 in. (90-120 cm)
Hardiness:
USDA Zone 11: above 4.5° C (40° F)
Sun Exposure:
Light Shade
Danger:
N/A
Bloom Color:
Inconspicuous/none
Bloom Time:
N/A
Foliage:
Evergreen
Smooth-Textured
Shiny/Glossy-Textured
Other details:
Requires consistently moist soil; do not let dry out between waterings
Soil pH requirements:
5.1 to 5.5 (strongly acidic)
5.6 to 6.0 (acidic)
6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic)
6.6 to 7.5 (neutral)
Propagation Methods:
By dividing rhizomes, tubers, corms or bulbs (including offsets)
From seed; sow indoors before last frost
Seed Collecting:
Seed does not store well; sow as soon as possible
This plant has been said to grow in the following regions:
Castro Valley, California
Encino, California
Hayward, California
Spring Valley, California
Bartow, Florida
Boca Raton, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Kathleen, Florida
Maitland, Florida
Miami, Florida
Hana, Hawaii
Honomu, Hawaii
New Orleans, Louisiana
Lafayette, Tennessee
Dallas, Texas
July 18th, 2006
South Bend Tribune - Jul 10 4:03 AM
Watchers come out to watch the birds dive at dusk.
SUE LOWE
Tribune Staff Writer
ELKHART — Birds swirled above the big red-brick chimney at dusk, chittering to each other.
One dove down into the chimney, then others, until whole groups were diving down to where they would spend the night.
“It’s kind of like reverse smoke going into the chimney,” Chuck Gooding, a South Bend-Elkhart Audubon Society board member, said of the chimney swifts that roost in the chimney.
The structure is part of the old Rice School, across the street from Elkhart Central High School. Crews will start tearing the school down July 17.
Fortunately the chimney is actually outside the building, so the birds won’t be affected.
Bob Woods, director of business operations for Elkhart schools, said the district will leave the chimney standing at least until the swifts migrate this fall. And officials are exploring the possibility of leaving it up permanently.
The swifts arrive in late April and start to leave by the end of August, so they’re here when the chimney isn’t being used.
Woods had no idea chimney swifts were living in the chimney until a couple of weeks ago when Doris Stickel called him. She said they’ve been there for at least 20 years.
“My husband watches the stars,” she explained. “We would come (to the school) to look at the planets.”
And the birds were there, so the couple started watching them, too.
Stickel realized last year that the swifts’ home would go when the school was torn down.
“I thought and thought about it all summer,” she said.
So she called the school system, and her husband, David Stokely, called the Elkhart Environmental Center.
Those calls sent Woods and Gooding separately to see the birds and start reading about them.
“They are a fascinating bird,” Woods said.
He’s right.
They fly almost constantly unless they are sitting on their nests or roosting at night. They cannot perch like most birds, but must cling.
“They don’t have perching feet and perching legs,” said Shirley Needham, a chimney swift enthusiast and small bird rehabilitator who lives near Rochester.
She said people who rehabilitate the birds call the chicks “prehistoric Velcro.”
When she is feeding the parentless chicks, she simply places the ones she already has fed onto the front of her T-shirt. She knows all the chicks have been fed when they’re all hanging onto her shirt.
Swifts are among the fastest birds out there.
Needham said Oriental swifts have been clocked at sustained speeds faster than peregrine falcons, although the falcons dive faster.
Chimney swifts eat insects and even drink water, and bathe on the wing.
They dip into the water of a pond or river as they fly over.
Needham said an average pair of chimney swifts flies 560 miles during a nesting season.
An individual swifts flies an average of 1.35 million miles during its lifetime, or about nine years.
They spend winters on the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains in Peru and Ecuador.
Needham said there is normally only one swift nest per chimney.
Gooding and his wife counted about 100 birds living in the Rice School chimney.
Needham honestly can’t say whether there’s a nest in there or if it’s a bunch of adults who for various reasons aren’t nesting this year.
She said that after the end of the nesting season, the end of July, the birds become “incredibly social.” That’s when huge flocks start gathering.
Woods said a bird watcher told him about 1,000 birds gather in the Rice School chimney in the fall.
Needham said that when that happens, peregrines, like the pair in downtown South Bend, and owls may “catch on that there are these little delicacies there.”
Chimney swifts originally lived in hollow trees but adapted to people as we started removing the hollow trees and building homes.
Their numbers are now declining because of plastic chimneys, metal inserts in chimneys and caps on chimneys.
People who want to preserve the birds have started building artificial chimneys they can use to raise their young.
July 17th, 2006
Bonita Daily News - Jul 11 12:47 AM
By Melanie Peeples (Contact)
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
You have to wonder about the first bird that flew inside the Lowe’s on Naples Blvd., looked around the big-box store, stroked his little bird chin and said, “Oh, yeah. This is for me.” Sure, maybe it was an accident, but you’ve got to give him credit for having the forethought to stick around.
Inside Lowe’s, it’s a constant, temperate climate. It never rains or gets too hot. There’s an endless supply of seeds over in Aisle 23, and the warehouse-style exposed steel rafters provide plenty of places for perching.
Word was bound to get around to other birds, and tweet-tweet, flutter-flutter, Lowe’s has gotten a lot more interesting.
From the opening swoosh of the electric doors, there’s more than cool air-conditioning greeting customers. There’s swooping and birdsong overhead, a lovely little twitter for folks stopping by for nails or lawn mowers or utility sinks.
“It’s kinda neat,” Jeff Kreamer says as he pushes his shopping cart under a pair of male and female house sparrows building a nest in the rafters above 1A. “I see them flying and chirping every time I come in here,” he says without missing a step.
That’s how you can tell the repeat customers from the novices. Those entering Lowe’s for the first time tend to stop and look up, frequently with jaws agape. The birds flock near the front doors and along Aisle 23 where Lowe’s keeps the plastic bags of birdseed.
A pair of doves proves the exception to the rule, eschewing the seed buffet on a recent afternoon for the lighting department, perhaps longing for the street lights of their youth. (A later, closer inspection reveals an assortment of small Zen water fountains nearby.)
ctivity in Aisle 23 is brisk. Perched on the rafters above, a cluster of house sparrows watch shoppers stroll past ears of dried corn and sunflower seeds, waiting for the humans to clear the row. Then they send in the sentry.
Two females land on the floor, hop-hopping down the lane side-by-side like soldiers patrolling an empty city block. All’s clear. Almost immediately a male lights on a cardboard display box of sumptuous seed. He cranes his little gray-capped head around and a bevy of females joins him before disappearing into the display box while he stands guard.
They scatter as soon as another shopper heads down the aisle. A later inspection of the display reveals a tiny little hole barely bigger than a pinprick in the top sack of birdseed.
Eddie Rozman, an employee in the lawn and garden center, says that, yes, they do tend to break into the bird seed. But the tiny holes the birds make are nothing compared to the big gouges that customers create.
“People think they’re helping (by tearing holes),” he says, shaking his head. “They do fine on their own.”
In fact, the birds’ holes are so tiny — they’re almost invisible — the seeds don’t spill out and the bags can still be sold to customers.
Thirst inevitably follows hunger, and after feasting there’s the matter of beverages to procure.
“They go outside for water,” Rozman explains, pointing to the electric doors leading to the outdoor garden center. He says the birds have learned to hang out in the rafters near the doors until humans trigger the electronic eye that swooshes open the doors. Then they slip out.
Some aren’t that patient.
“If you hang around here long enough, they flutter around in front and wait for the door to open,” Rozman says. “I’ve seen them flutter in front of the electric eye and zoom!” he says with a hand motion that looks like a plane taking off.
It seems impossible.
“They’re smarter than you think,” he explains.
“They’re really quite clever,” confirms Steve Carbol, environmental education manager for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
Sitting at a picnic table in the outdoor garden center looking toward the doors that lead into Lowe’s, he studies the sparrows.
“They’ve been closely associated with people for thousands of years,” he says, explaining why the birds would choose to live in Lowe’s rather than in the woods. House sparrows have always preferred to live right next to humans, building nests in the eaves of houses. But with the proliferation of big-box retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot, they’ve sort of hit the jackpot — and are taking up residence in stores like this one all across the country.
“They’ve just adapted to new conditions,” Carbol says. As he speaks, a female flits by, swooping left to right, just above the doors. Nothing happens and she crosses back, again, just above the doors. She repeats this a few times before giving up and landing on an overhead pipe to wait.
Minutes later a customer approaches and the bird slips in.
“It’s just the next step in their living with us,” Carbol says.
Then another house sparrow appears with something in her mouth. “A katydid,” Carbol points out, without raising his binoculars. This bird has it figured out. She flies in front of the doors, making swoops like the first bird, but slightly lower, right in front of the electronic eye. One, two, and swoosh, the doors open and she takes the bug prize in to waiting offspring.
It’s hard to believe a bird with a brain the size of a pebble has mastered motion-detector technology.
“They’re tenacious, adaptable, smart, little animals that have learned to take advantage of us,” Carbol muses, fully appreciating the moment. “It’s disconcerting the way they use our technology against us.”
And since the birds have figured out how to get in and out at will, and since there’s water nearby — including a cluster of large water fountains in the garden center just perfect for bird bathing — it’s not that easy to get rid of them.
Lowe’s corporate spokeswoman Karen Cobb says the company’s policy is to live and let live. “We only take action to catch and release whenever there are complaints from customers,” she says.
“We realize with having our open lawn and garden centers,” Cobb says, “they’ll be attracted to that.” So since they sort of lure the birds in, Cobb doesn’t seem inclined to punish them for knowing a good thing when they see it. “We peacefully co-exist.”
If someone were to complain, Cobb says, they’d hire a pest-control company to trap birds that become a nuisance and move them 60 miles away. There are horror stories about other big-box retailers around the country using glue traps to kill birds.
Given the phenomena of birds taking up residence in big-box stores all across the country, what’s surprising isn’t that birds are living in Lowe’s in Naples, but that they aren’t living at any of the Home Depot stores in Naples or Bonita Springs.
Just a couple flaps of the wing from Naples’ Lowe’s — that’s about a half-mile for you and me — is the Home Depot on Pine Ridge Road. Walk in that store and it’s conspicuously quiet. Not a peep or twitter. Assistant Manager Brian Hollenbeck says they’re not doing anything to the birds. They just aren’t choosing to live there.
Hollenbeck says in the five years he’s worked for Home Depot in Southwest Florida, he’s seen only a couple come through his doors. “Usually one or two have a nest and then leave.” He says he has no idea why they haven’t taken up permanent residence there.
Maybe it’s the music playing in the background. While the house sparrows and doves enjoy living in close quarters with humans, perhaps it’s possible they just don’t care for our taste in music.
July 17th, 2006
BBC News - Jul 12 9:14 AM
A survey to find out where swifts are nesting in Edinburgh has been launched in a bid to help boost the depleting numbers of the rare bird.
Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Ornithologists Club want the public to report sightings of swifts in the city.
The renovation of old buildings, which swifts nest in, is being blamed for the plummeting numbers of the birds.
Bird experts can install artificial nesting sites if they discover where the birds are congregating.
Last year only 42 nests were found in the capital, which has left bird experts concerned.
Caroline Peacock, Edinburgh Council’s biodiversity officer, said the capital was recognised as an important area for swifts, as they traditionally nest in the cracks and crevices of old buildings during summer.
She said: “It is essential that we take measures to help this special bird, whose antics, looping over the rooftops catching insects, are one of the highlights of summer in Edinburgh.
“Swift numbers have declined in Scotland by 62% in the last decade and the loss of nesting spaces, as old buildings have been renovated, is thought to be a key factor.”
Number of initiatives
The survey is one of a number of initiatives the council is undertaking to help the swifts.
Last year, its planning committee introduced a series of guidelines for developers which encourage more swift-friendly designs.
These include using ’swift bricks’, concrete blocks inserted into a wall which provide a nesting area for the birds, or creating an open access eave, which allows the birds to nest in small ceiling alcoves.
The guidelines are part of a series of biodiversity guidelines to create more environmentally-friendly buildings across the capital.
Looking like a black scythe-shape in flight, swifts are extremely clean and hygienic birds, removing debris and droppings from their nests, and are not a ‘pest’ species.
July 17th, 2006
wolfhollowwildlife.org
Skagit Valley Herald,
By Teresa Goffredo
MOUNT VERNON - Witnesses expressed outrage Friday after watching county housing authority workers scraping swallows’ nests off a five-story downtown apartment building, killing between 20 and 60 hatchlings who were too young to fly and fell to their deaths.
“Baby birds were falling and splatting all over the cars and sidewalk and the road. It was a pretty grim scene,” said witness Gale Sterrett, development coordinator for the habitat protection group Skagit Land Trust. “At one point I had to close my window shade. It was very upsetting.” John Smith, executive director of the Housing Authority of Skagit County, submitted a letter this week to the Skagit Valley Herald addressing the issue. In the letter, Smith said his agency removed the swallow’s nests in response to complaints about health and safety because of the large amounts of bird droppings accumulating on Myrtle Street outside the President apartments. The housing authority owns President Apartments, 310 Myrtle St. But Smith also wrote that “had the situation been considered more fully the action would not have taken place.”
One legal point housing authority officials didn’t consider was that destroying the 30 or so swallows’ nests at the apartment building was a violation - a misdemeanor - of the federal Migratory Bird Act.
But State Fish and Wildlife officials say it’s common for people to unknowingly violate that law, and it’s unlikely that any prosecution will occur. “It’s one of the easiest laws to inadvertently violate,” said Russell Link, a state urban wildlife biologist in Mill Creek. “A person may not know they violated the act but people should know that.”
Swallows - small, swooping birds with pointed wings - should be held in high regard as one of the region’s leading insect-eating birds, with their favorite food being mosquitoes, Link said Link also noted that swallows may nest near humans for protection because the birds somehow think people keep away predators like crows. But the swallows living underneath the cornice of the President apartments might have felt far from protected Wednesday.
Housing authority maintenance employees working from inside the building’s fifth-floor apartments leaned out of apartment windows and used a long-handled device with a blade at the end to scrape the swallows’ artfully crafted mud nests off the building’s cornice onto the street below. After removing the nests, the workers used high-pressure hoses to wash away the bird droppings from the street.
“It was a terrible sight and such a shock,” said witness Martha Bray, executive director of the Skagit Land Trust. The land trust has offices across the street from where the swallows had nested.
The Skagit Land Trust “is trying to save natural habitat and we see a little bit of it across the street being destroyed,” Bray said Friday. “It’s pretty sad and ironic.”
Bray and others aware of the swallows’ demise all asked the same question when they discussed the incident: Why didn’t the housing authority just wait a few weeks until the baby birds were old enough to fly away?
“It was uncalled for, very uncalled for,” said David Peveto, who lives above Hugo Helmer Music Inc. on First Street. Peveto tried to save two of the stranded swallows who had fallen into the street by putting them in a box and placing a towel over the box. But Peveto was told to leave the box on the street, and overnight a hungry cat got the baby swallows.
Peveto didn’t know he could bring the hatchlings to Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, a wildlife rescue agency based on San Juan Island, but which also serves Skagit County.
One of the baby swallows ultimately made it to the home of Roremary Orr, a representative of Wolf Hollow based in Anacortes. “My concern is had (the housing authority) waited three weeks, they could have destroyed empty nests,” Orr said.
Another swallow survivor made it into the hands of Karen Hall-Flickner, office manager for Peters and Cain accounting, which is located on the first floor of the President Apartments building. Hall-Flickner said she saw the baby bird in the street Wednesday. Since then, she has put the bird in a cage in her office and has been feeding it with a syringe.
Before the swallows’ nests were removed Wednesday, Hall-Flickner said she had made several calls to try to get the bird droppings cleaned from the sidewalk in front of her office. One call she made was to the Mount Vernon Street Department. Street department officials told her, however, that the street was not part of their jurisdiction because the building was owned by the housing authority.
Hall-Flickner then called the housing authority. But she said she wasn’t complaining about the nests. She just wanted someone to come and wash the sidewalk twice a week. She said she certainly didn’t want the swallows’ nests destroyed.
“Obviously the ultimate solution was for the nests to be removed but either: A when they were first noticed before the babies were hatched or B, wait another week or two for the babies to leave the nest,” Hall-Flickner said. Street department officials told Hall they had recommended to the housing authority that the nests be removed in September, after the baby birds had flown away.
So, street department officials were quite surprised the housing authority had already scraped the nests away, Hall said. In his letter to the community, housing authority Director Smith was contrite. “In retrospect, we aught to have waited a few weeks until the birds being raised had left the nests, but complaints about health and safety prompted action,” Smith wrote.
“These birds are likely to attempt to nest in the same place next season,” he wrote. In the future, one would hope that with shared responsibility, cooperation and goodwill that birds will be preserved and health and safety will also be maintained.”
But for some downtown residents and workers, the excuse about health and safety didn’t fly.
“So the sidewalk’s a little messy,” said Peveto. “I was raised on a farm and I’ve learned to step around that stuff.”
Though most of the swallows’ nests were scraped off the Myrtle Street side of the apartment building, about 50 nests remain in front of the building on First Street. Those nests weren’t removed because the awning in front of the building prevents the bird droppings from reaching the street. Smith said there were no plans to remove these nests this summer. Still, Skagit Land Trust Director Bray wonders why humans can’t be better at accommodating wildlife.
“We need to learn to live with wildlife. It’s so wonderful to have these birds in the city. They’re native species and managing to get by in the city,” Bray said. “I really enjoyed seeing them every morning.”
(Note - in fact 4 nestling Cliff Swallows were sent to Wolf Hollow as a result of this event. They were raised along with a number of other young swallows and have now been released back into the wild.
We hope that people will learn a couple of things from this disturbing event - a) It is against federal law to destroy the nests of native bird species, both when there are eggs in the nest and when the young have hatched. b) there is rarely any need to knock down nests just because droppings are landing on sidewalks, decks etc. A simple awning or board, attached to the wall just a few feet below the nest will catch the droppings. This can then be taken down and cleaned once a year in fall, and replaced ready for the next nesting season.)
July 14th, 2006
alaskaoutdoorjournal.com
Swallows are an enjoyable species of wildlife to have around the yard. In addition to their entertaining acrobatics they are wonderful bug eaters, especially for mosquitos here in Alaska. The Violet Green swallow and tree swallow migrate to southcentral Alaska around May 1st. In the wild they chose to nest in abandoned woodpecker nest sites but these are relatively rare and so the birds will take up residence in anything that meets their requirements.
Manmade nest boxes are easy to construct and install. The following instructions, illustrations and guidelines will guide you through the process. Its a great project for the whole family to participate in.
Construction
Materials: Sides, back and bottom panels 1 x 6″ finished boards. Top: 1 x 8″ finished board or 1/2″ plywood.
Place a 1/4″ hole in the back, near the top, for hanging the nest box on a nail. If the nest box is to be placed on the side of a building, extend the back panel board an additional 2″ in length for easy mounting.
The box can also be placed on a 4″ diameter post, ten or more feet tall, attached to the bottom of the box and a 12″ metal sleeve should cover the post just below the nest box to discourage predators. If painted it will not be unsightly. When a post is used, add one inch overhang to the back of the nest box top.
Guidelines
1 Preferred nest sites have south, east or western exposures.
2 Violet Green and tree swallows do not like close neighbors. Place boxes away from each other, at least forty or fifty feet, and making the entrances face different directions is helpful. Apartment swallow houses are cruel, and cause the death of many birds, due to constant territorial fighting. These birds are not martins and lack the gregarious instincts of martins.
3 Swallows like open country or open, mixed woods. In tree-less areas, Violet Green swallows nest in small crevices in rock cliffs.
4 Place nest boxes well out of reach of cats and squirrels. Never place nest boxes on spruce trees or squirrels will move into them.
5 Swallows prefer nest sites with front over-hang either under the eaves of buildings or built onto the nest box by extending the roof. See illustration.
6 No perch is really necessary, and the typical peg type perch is unacceptable because it damages tail feathers. Use a cross perch made from a small tree limb.
7 The normal nest site for tree swallows and most lowland Violet Green swallows are the abandoned nest cavities of woodpeckers. Homemade nest boxes should resemble these. Care should be taken not to make the inside dimensions too large, bigger isn’t better, follow the sizes in the illustrations, these have proven to be the best for hundreds of years.
8 No nest material should be placed in the boxes, nest building is a vital part of swallow courtship. Paint the box any color you wish, the birds will be unaffected by it.
9 NEVER put wire or other fabric inside of boxes for the young to climb up. This causes the young birds to crowd the entrance and forces them out of the nest before they can fly, making them easy prey for predators. Don’t worry, they will get out when the time is right.
Never drill air holes in the bottom of any nest box. It invites ants which move into the nesting material and will kill the young. Woodpeckers don’t make holes in the bottom of their nest cavities and they should not be there for swallows either. Don’t worry about air circulation, and if the roof is water tight the nest cavity will stay dry.
Clean out the old nesting material about once every two years. If you attach the top with hinges this is an easy chore.
Don’t make metal nesting sites such as pipes; they get too hot and too cold.
DON’T OPEN THE NEST BOX TO SEE THE BABIES! Install boxes by May 1.
July 14th, 2006
“by Lisa Myers
letsgobirding.com
Developing open space often negatively impacts wildlife,
but for the Cliff Swallow this was not the case! Because
of their preference for building nests on vertical surfaces
like cliffs, this swallow has benefited by suburbia, as it now
utilizes man-made structures like bridges and buildings.
In fact, there are more Cliff Swallows today than when the
pioneers settled the west.
Cliff Swallows are usually found near water as they use
mud to build their nests. They take this mud in their mouth
to their nest location. It is here that they build a tubular shaped
nest and fill it with feathers and grass. Often the swallows will
build their nests in large colonies. One colony consisted of
over 3,700 nests!
Both parents help incubate the 4 – 6 eggs. After only two weeks the eggs hatch. If you find a nest colony you can easily watch the parents entering and leaving the nests. Chicks can also be seen at the opening of the nests as they impatiently wait for their next meal. With nests so close together it is believed that parent birds recognize their chicks by voice. After three weeks the chicks leave the nest and soon learn to catch bugs for themselves.
As the name implies, swallows gather their food by swallowing-up bugs and insects. They do this food gathering on the wing as Cliff Swallows have strong jaws and are able to snatch food right out of the air and lock it in their mouth.
Because a large part of their diet consists of insects, swallows follow the warm temperatures throughout the year. Let’s face it, they need to live where the bugs are! During the spring and summer months Cliff Swallows can be found throughout much of North America . In the fall these birds migrate to South America where they’ll spend the winter, but they’ll be back! It only takes them a few days to make the journey. Some folks believe Cliff Swallows are so precise that they return on the same date each spring. In San Juan Capistrano, CA. they believe the swallows return to nest at the Mission on the 19 th of March every year. That belief is not quite true as the swallows react to a food source and migrate accordingly. In Medieval times they believed swallows hibernated in the mud and flew back out each spring.
The truth of the matter is that Cliff Swallows are a migratory bird species thus protecting it and its nesting activities from hunting and destruction. If a person is caught removing a nest they can be arrested. If there is some need to remove Cliff Swallows from an area, special permits must be issued. If Cliff Swallows do like an area that you prefer they not colonize it is recommended that you construct barriers during the winter before the birds return.
There are 90 different species of swallows in the world and we can find 9 different species in North America . In the San Francisco Bay Area we are fortunate to be able to find up to 5 different species of swallows during a spring/summer bird walk! All are quick flying, beautiful birds around 5 inches long. The Cliff Swallow has a white brow which helps to distingbuish it from our other swallows. Many times they are flying high above us as we go about our day. Who needs pesticides when you have these little buddies in your neighborhood - they are nature’s organic bug zapper!
Both Cliff Swallow pictures were provided by Tom Grey. The Cliff Swallow pictured above is gathering mud for its nest.
July 14th, 2006
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