Wally Orchard displays one of the early bird boxes installed in Yachats’ Quiet Water subdivision. Orchard is part of an ad hoc group working to provide safe housing for two types of summer migrant swallows. The tall pole protects the nest from predators.
By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com
If certain West Coast swallows could write their own “House wanted” ad, it would look something like this: HARD-WORKING COUPLE seeks home. Will eat our weight in mosquitoes.
But thanks to the work begun by three Yachats men, Violet Green and Tree Swallows will soon have safe new dwellings in town and up the Yachats River valley.
“Last fall’s migration was tough on birds due to all the fire smoke and lack of food on their way south,” said Jim Welch, one of the prime movers behind the informal “Yachats Swallow Birding Trail.”
Welch and two other Yachats residents intend to install 50 bird boxes for swallows this year and 50 next year. Installations will take place in March to coincide with the return of the two specific species, which are common summer migrants in the area. All the bird boxes will be on poles to provide protection against predators such as snakes and cats.
“The best areas for the houses are on the edge of fields and open areas, where there are lots of bugs,” said Welch, a birder who got started building birdhouses in Colorado a few years ago. Welch and his wife split their time between Colorado and Yachats.
He noted that the brilliantly-colored Violet Green and Tree 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,” he said.
The beneficiaries of the project are not Barn Swallows, Welch explained, which build mud nests in the eaves of buildings: “a lot of people don’t care for that.” The tidy wooden houses are not attractive to Barn Swallows.
A trio of Yachats men want to augment swallow boxes at the Tami Wagner Wildlife Area with a trail of boxes leading from town.
Inspired by elk refuge bird homes
The project was inspired by the work of Paul Thompson, another Yachats resident who monitors and maintains 14 Swallow boxes on the Tami Wagner Wildlife Area six miles up the Yachats River. Welch saw the installation at the refuge last year, and started building birdhouses with Wally Orchard, a familiar local through his work on the Yachats Trails Committee.
“I said, ‘Why don’t we plan to put birdhouses up and down the Yachats River valley and in town?’” recalled Welch.
That led to a public call in January for help to identify suitable sites, to build birdhouses, or donate supplies or cash. Each box and pole costs $20 for materials.
One of the well-used swallow boxes at the Tami Wagner Wildlife Area six miles east of Yachats on Yachats River Road.
“Climate change is really impacting these birds, all birds,” said Welch. “In a good year, we may get close to 100 young birds from those 14 boxes in the elk refuge,” which has a 100 percent occupancy rate.
For the 50 new birdhouses, “Our hope is 50 percent occupancy for the first year, so it won’t take long to build up our community of swallows as the young return to occupy the boxes.”
While most of this year’s boxes — about 20 in town and 30 in the river valley — are built, cash is still needed and so are volunteers to monitor the houses. The boxes are made of cedar donated by Yachats resident Mike Hatten.
“Monitoring initially will be a weekly visit to observe the boxes,” said Welch. “Eventually we will teach our volunteers how to handle the birds on the nest to count eggs and monitor fledglings.”
The group has most of its Yachats sites identified, but needs to locate sites and contact landowners up the valley especially those with large meadows, and hotels in town which may have large, grassy areas.
People who would like to volunteer as a monitor, have a birdhouse installed on their property, or donate supplies or cash are urged to contact any of these individuals by phone or text: Paul Thompson: 541-991-6774; Wally Orchard: 541- 606-0055, and Jim Welch: 970-217-4424.