The decline of swallows in Seattle is also supported by data collected over decades by Birds Connect Seattle's Neighborhood Bird Project, a monthly bird count at 9 Seattle parks.

The decline is particularly clear for Barn Swallows. I've attached a chart showing of the proportion of our monthly bird surveys reporting a given swallow species since 2005. At the start of the period, more than 7% of surveys reported Barn Swallows. Today, it's around 1%.

We have also observed a clear decline in surveys reporting House Sparrows.

Joshua Morris
joshm at birdsconnectsea.org



From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Mary Forrester via Tweeters
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2024 5:05 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] swallows & house sparrows

I live in Tukwila & spend a lot of time on the Green River trail. During this year, like many other Tweeters, I've also noticed a large decrease in the number of violet green & barn swallows, as well as more rough winged swallows. At the same time, I have also seen many more house sparrows. Anything we can do to discourage the house sparrows would, I think, be worth the effort.
Mary Forrester