At the Steigerwald Lake NWR, at Washougal, WA, there are Osprey nests on the cottonwood snags that also have nesting Purple Martins. Purple Martins also nest in a snag at Goose Lake, Skamania County, at an elevation of 3,110'. Wilson Cady
Columbia River Gorge, WA

---------- Original Message ----------
From: "Wayne Weber" <contopus at telus.net>
To: "TWEETERS" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] "Natural" swallow nest sites
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2013 12:41:18 -0700


Hal and Tweeters,

As for Cliff Swallows, there are some huge colonies on cliffs in Washington and in BC, such as in the Grand Coulee of Washington and in BC, along Nicola Lake east of Merritt. In some parts of their range, the majority of Cliff Swallows still use &ldquo;natural&rdquo; nest sites.

However, your point is well taken that for North American swallow species-- not just the 3 you mentioned-- most of them are dependent on man-made nest sites over large parts of their ranges. This includes gravel pits and road cuts for Bank and N. Rough-winged Swallows, and nest boxes or gourds for Purple Martins. The only natural nest sites I have ever seen Purple Martins use are in old woodpecker holes in saguaro cactuses in Arizona, and a very few nests in tree cavities along the Oregon coast.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net




From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Hal Michael
Sent: October-14-13 7:23 AM
To: stan Kostka lynn Schmidt
Cc: tweeters at U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Re: RFI: Looking for "natural" Osprey nests in Puget Sound area

While we're at it, how many Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Cave Swallow nests has anyone seen not on a man-made structure?
Hal Michael
Olympia WA
360-459-4005 (H)
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net