SWIFTY Activities & Results 2025
We have come to the end of another successful year for our SWIFTY boxes and birds. This year we ran successful projects with two groups: 4H members from Waldport built and helped install swallow boxes at the Tami Wagner Elk Refuge, and students with special needs from Newport High School built boxes for Purple Martins that we installed on pilings on the Siletz River.
Species Summaries
Swallows: Similar to last year, we saw over 65% of our boxes occupied. We continue to have high chick mortality (35-50%) at a couple of project sites, compared to less than 10% at the rest. At Hatfield Marine Science Center, we speculate that the June 21 storm that brought cold and rain was a major contributor to chick deaths. Other stressors, including wind and a drier climate that make it more difficult for the swallows to find and deliver food to their young, may have contributed to the high mortality rate. Similar climate issues affect the Upper Yachats River Valley; in addition, we have 50 boxes along a five-mile stretch of the river, perhaps creating too much competition for food.
Purple Martins (PUMAs): We added 12 new PUMA boxes on the Siletz River, bringing the total number of boxes we’re monitoring to 41 at seven different sites in Lincoln County. In line with last year’s results, we estimated that one-third of our boxes had nesting pairs. We now have an excess capacity of boxes for the local population in the three main river valleys (Siletz, Yaquina, and Alsea) where we work. One exciting highlight is that our new colony on the Salmon River (two years old) has been a smashing success: this year, we saw three of the four boxes occupied, and we will add more for the 2026 nesting season.
Wood Ducks: Results were disappointing, with only one successful clutch in our ten boxes. However, we did have one box with abandoned eggs. We speculate that the ducks didn't like the change in bedding from pine shavings to bark. We also believe several of our boxes need better locations.
Future Plans
Next year, in addition to continuing our work with the Newport High School students building boxes, we have a new PUMA project with the McKenzie River Trust on the North Fork of the Siuslaw River. Excitingly, we have also been contacted by Dr. Sarah Rockwell, head researcher of the PUMA Conservation Project, who would like to use some of our PUMAs in her work. This work may involve banding the birds and/or attaching GPS backpacks to track their migration. Her past research has shown that coastal Oregon PUMAs migrate 8,000 miles to southeast Brazil for winter. Perhaps, in a couple of years, we will have a SWIFTY Purple Martin return with a recorded flight path for us to marvel over!
Sincere Thanks
We’d like to give a shout out to all of the SWIFTY volunteers for the work you have done for birds and wildlife! Yachats is about to be designated a “Bird City,” a nationwide effort by the National Audubon Society to reward cities for their efforts to support healthy bird habitat. This designation represents our community’s collective effort and commitment to protect the wonderful natural world we inhabit on the Oregon Coast. Bravo all!
Purple Martin, photo courtesy of SWIFTY
