SWIFTY—Swallows in Flight to Yachats—is a passionate volunteer group dedicated to giving our local birds a fighting chance. From their home base in Yachats, volunteers build, install, and carefully monitor nest boxes for ducks, owls, songbirds, and especially the swallow family. Join Oregon Coast Learning Institute (OCLI) for a presentation by Jim Welch, SWIFTY co-founder and Seven Capes board member.

Their impact is impressive: more than 250 nest boxes now support Tree and Violet-green Swallows, and another 90 boxes provide crucial habitat for Purple Martins.

In this illustrated talk, you’ll be invited into the hidden world of these remarkable species—their ecology, their nesting behaviors, and the powerful role that thoughtfully placed nest boxes play in their survival. You’ll also learn about the growing challenges these birds face, from shifting climate patterns to habitat loss, and how community action can make a real difference.

The presentation will conclude with highlights from this year’s monitoring results, offering an inside look at what’s working, what’s changing, and how WIFTY’s efforts are helping our local bird populations take flight.

BIO: Jim Welch bought a home on the Oregon coast in 2016 when he retired from the renewable energy industry in Colorado. As a lifelong environmentalist, he has been active in conservation related projects in the area. Besides co-founding SWIFTY, he established Yachats annual environmental festival, Wild Things, where kids and families learn to enjoy and protect our treasured coastline and its wildlife. He is currently serving as a board member for the Seven Capes Bird Alliance and is in the process of getting the City of Yachats certified as one of the first “Bird Cities” in the state. 

Tree Swallows by Ruth Shelly