Welcome to WA Jim,
One of the reasons for the apparent seriousness of our local swallow
reports is that there has been a noted swallow decline all along the West
Coast, especially for Barn swallows (recent Audubon Society publication).
Some of us who monitor the same colonies year after year, actually
counting active nests, have also seen a decline. While this may reflect
the "normal" long term patterns in species' populations, patterns not yet
understood because surveys have not been consistent enough or continued
for enough time, the destruction of wintering grounds in the tropics and
also habitat challenges in the nesting areas are very real.

There were once 10's of millions of Passenger pigeons; the entire species
was wiped out in only a few years. Even an abundant species such as the
Barn swallow (or the Monarch butterfly) is at particular risk of
large and rapid population crashes because its colonial behavior
may put it into direct conflict with artificial environmental changes.

Swallow populations appear abundant in the NW so far, but declines in some
areas are documented and may reflect local changes or more general
population problems or both. Continued surveys are required.

Cheers and keep a close eye on your Redmond swallows,
Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu Univ of WA and Des Moines, WA

"Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of
confusion and bamboozle requires vigilance, dedication, and courage."
-Carl Sagan-
***************************************************
On Fri, 24 Jul 1998, Jim McCoy wrote:

> I moved to Redmond from Massachusetts this year, and I've been struck by how frequently swallows fill the air, and how there seems to be a swallow in sight at any given time. My impression, and that's all it is, would be that swallows are generally more numerous here than in the east.
>
> The point here is that individual experience is an extremely unreliable basis for generalizing about population trends. Our differing experiences probably have more to do with the vagaries of a handful of specific colonies, and the extent to which our movements and theirs happen to coincide.
>
> ----------
> From: Maureen Ellis[SMTP:me2 at u.washington.edu]
> Reply To: me2 at u.washington.edu
> Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 4:48 PM
> To: Diann MacRae
> Cc: cfeiss at halcyon.com; Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: Re: Swallow Populations
>
> Nesting Barn swallow populations at the Des Moines Marina have dropped
> about 50% over the last few years. And the Violet-green swallows seem a
> fraction of what used to "fill" the sky over our condo complexes.
> Me too *:>(
> Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu Univ of WA and Des Moines, WA
>
> "Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of
> confusion and bamboozle requires vigilance, dedication, and courage."
> -Carl Sagan-
> ********************************************
> On Wed, 15 Jul 1998, Diann MacRae wrote:
>
> > Hi Carol and Tweets,
> >
> > I've lived here in greater Bothell (Snohomish County), on probably its
> > highest hill, for over 15 years. When we moved here, the skies were full
> > of barn, violet-green, and tree swallows plus swifts. They nested all over
> > the neighborhood. Now, we see a few violet-greens and that's it, but none
> > nest here or at the neighbors that I know of. The corvid population,
> > including crows and Steller's jays, has been the same all along. So has
> > the neighborhood cat population :-( My feeling has been since I started
> > noticing the decline about eight years ago, that it is a problem on the
> > wintering grounds involving some of the same situations that have caused
> > severe declines in some songbird species. Habitat destruction, etc. But
> > there is definitely a decline in many areas. To add to this, there is a
> > definite decline in the number of tanagers around this year (at this
> > location).
> >
> > Diann MacRae
> > Bothell
> > tvulture at halcyon.com
> >
> >
>
>
>
>