Of Swifts and Swallows and Wood Warblers

Joe Meche is a past president of the North Cascades Audubon Society and is still active in chapter affairs.He has been watching birds for more than 50 years and photographing birds and landscapes for more than 30 years. He has written more than 100 articles for Whatcom Watch.

The consensus is that birds are prime indicators of healthy environments. The old practice of taking canaries into coal mines points to the sensitivity of birds. Individual birds or groups of birds have long been recognized as signs of change and signals of distinct times of the year. Foremost of these has always been the arrival of waterfowl in the fall and their subsequent departure in the spring. To many people in North America, the American robin has often been considered as the harbinger of spring.

Be that as it may and robins and old wives’ tales aside, the true sign that spring has arrived in the Northwest is the arrival of birds that depend on the seasonal abundance of insects. Because Pacific Northwest birders have closely monitored the movements of swifts and swallows along the entire Pacific Flyway, we know that as the flying and leaf-eating insects reappear in the Spring, so do the birds that feed on them — the swifts and swallows and the always exciting and colorful wood warblers.

No other birds are more at home on the wing than the swifts. They are the epitome of frequent fliers, spending their days on the wing searching for and devouring flying insects. They are members of the family of birds known as Apodidae, which also includes hummingbirds. The family name derives from the ancient Greek word meaning “without feet.” While both hummingbirds and swifts certainly have feet, their legs are very short and their feet so small as to be almost unnoticeable. They are more comfortable aloft and in their preference to be on the wing, they bear a resemblance to our diving birds which are more comfortable on the water than on land.

In Whatcom County the most notable representatives of the family of swifts are the black and Vaux’s swifts. While black swifts are not as common and more difficult to find, the Vaux’s swifts have attained superstar status, due primarily to their large, traditional gatherings at chimneys along their migratory path. This swift is the western counterpart to the chimney swift of the eastern states. Like its eastern relative, it seeks the shelter of old, brick chimneys for night roosting prior to dispersal for nesting in the spring.

The old chimney at the Wagner School in Monroe, for instance, has become the focal point of Vaux’s Happening, an Everett-based group that focuses on increasing the awareness of the swift phenomenon and the need to preserve the old roosting sites. These old chimneys are essential gathering places during both spring and fall migrations. In Whatcom County, the old Customs House in Sumas has long been the best place to view the spectacle of large numbers of small birds swirling into a chimney at dusk. However, the chimney at the Church of the Assumption on Cornwall Avenue hosted a large number of swifts last spring.

While the swifts generally arrive during the first part of May, the arrival of our local swallows in spring has always followed a broad rule of thumb. Tree swallows are usually the first to arrive sometime near Washington’s Birthday in late February, and the arrival of violet-green swallows is closer to St. Patrick’s Day in March. This general rule has other swallow species arriving around tax time in mid-April. By the time May rolls around, our natural insect control specialists are on duty and up to the task at hand.

The barn swallow, with its deeply forked tail, is probably the most recognizable of the swallows and their distinctive shelf nests can be found anyplace that affords them enough space to create their cup-like mud structures. You can find these nests under the eaves of houses and barns and sometimes on top of outdoor light fixtures. Tree and violet-green swallows are cavity nesters and their search for suitable nesting sites has been assisted by nesting box programs like the one that North Cascades Audubon has been promoting for almost 15 years.

Cliff swallows play a part in one of the best known connections between birds and humans with their traditional arrival at the old California mission of San Juan Capistrano. These swallows are known for their elaborate mud nests that are often built in colonies under the eaves of houses of overhanging bridge decking. Locally, the best place to see the intricate work of cliff swallows is on the bridge that crosses Colony Creek in the community of Blanchard.

Other species found locally are the northern rough-winged swallow and the largest member of the family, the purple martin. While the rough-winged swallow nests in holes in sandy banks, the purple martin takes readily to manmade nesting boxes. Unlike their eastern counterparts, which seem to prefer multi-family units, the western martins prefer individual boxes. In the tidelands off Cliffside Drive, several boxes have been used by martins over the past few years.

Many birdwatchers are admittedly fanatic about the wood warblers that also herald the arrival of spring. The key factors that make warblers so special to their avid fans are that they arrive from their winter sojourns in the tropics wearing resplendent colors and offering a variety of songs to brighten the day. One of the big challenges for birdwatchers is learning to make field identifications by the songs of individual species and the warblers provide ample opportunities for practice. Of the fifty-four species of warblers found in North America, only about a dozen are regular visitors in Whatcom County, but these feathery bundles of energy are notable.

Regardless of the habitat you visit, you’re certain to find representatives of the family of warblers. Tennant Lake, just south of Ferndale, is one of the best places to find two very popular warblers – the common yellowthroat and the yellow warbler. Their distinctive songs make them easy to identify even if you’re unable to see them. The yellowthroat’s witchety witchety witchety song is as distinctive as the yellow warbler’s clear notes of sweet sweet sweet ti ti ti.

Wilson’s warbler is another favorite and is often encountered in wooded areas of Whatcom Falls and Lake Padden Parks. Their bright yellow bodies are in sharp contrast to their perfectly placed black caps. A lesser known species is the MacGillivray’s warbler, which usually nests at higher elevations. A past field trip on the North Fork of the Nooksack River provided good views of this warbler in old avalanche chutes along the Hannegan Pass Trail.

While the majority of our warblers are migrants, past efforts on the Bellingham Christmas Bird Count (CBC) have included both yellow-rumped and Townsend’s warblers. Many warblers tend to operate above our heads and one of the oldest side effects that birdwatchers report is a bad case of warbler neck, the cause of which should be obvious. Spending the better part of a spring day gazing into the treetops with binoculars is dedicated work.

Our swallows will be with us throughout the summer and easy enough to find and observe. Swifts, on the other hand, will be nesting in the higher elevations and will make us wait until fall. This is the time of year that they return to the same chimneys to roost while they gather to migrate south for the winter months. Except for the two species mentioned on the CBC, our warblers will depart for warmer climes as well, but they will leave behind memorable days of birdwatching for the adoring humans. Plan to spend time this summer getting to know these spectacular visitors.