The advantage of living in Lake County is that we have an abundance of wild birds. In other words, it”s a bird viewer”s heaven. I have a number of favorite birds and they range from the majestic bald eagle to the western grebe, but the bird that ranks high on the list is the tiny cliff swallow.
This busy little bird migrates to Lake County by the thousands. It builds its nest on docks and bridges and is either loved or hated by lakeside residents. These are the same species of swallows that return every year to the Mission San Juan Capistrano in Southern California.
Every spring thousands of cliff swallows make their long migration from South America to Lake County. This remarkable little bird weighs only a few ounces and is less than six inches long, and yet has little difficulty flying thousands of miles just to nest and raise its young.
The cliff swallow can be identified by its square tail, blue back and white forehead. One reason the cliff swallow nests in Lake County is because of the county”s rich supply of insects and ideal habitat in which the birds can build their nests and raise their young.
Swallows only migrate during the daylight hours and they must constantly feed to keep up their strength. Their feeding habits consist of catching flying insects and they can catch even the smallest of the insects.
The swallows spend the winter in Central and South America. They start their northward migration in January and arrive in Northern California in late April and early May.
Upon arriving at their selected nesting area they build their nests in colonies under the docks or under the eaves of buildings ? always near water. They nest in colonies and some of the docks and buildings around the lake will have up to a dozen or more nests. Bridges, such as the one that crosses Rodman Slough, are also popular nesting areas. The female lays from four to six white eggs. An unusual trait of the cliff swallow is that a female will often move her eggs into the nest of another swallow. Often they will return to the same nest from the previous year.
Their nests are gourd-shaped and made from mud and lined with feathers. The birds gather the mud by rubbing their chests and feet in the wet mud. The mud forms little balls and sticks to their chest and feet, which they then carry to the nest. The entrance to the nest always points downward. Both the female and male build the nest, which can take up to two weeks to complete. A typical nest can contain as many as 1,500 mud pellets. Each pellet represents a trip to a nearby mud flat.
Both the male and female incubate the eggs, which hatch in 12 to 16 days, and both will feed the young. About 20 days after hatching the young are ready to fly.
Swallows start their southward migration in late August and by November they are gone. What is amazing about the bird is that despite its small size it can migrate all the way to South America.
Whereas swallows are part of the Lake County landscape they”re not popular with everyone. They tend to build their nests in unwanted places and often become pests, leaving their droppings on decks and other places.
Many dock owners around the lake install fine mesh nets around their docks to discourage the swallows from nesting. Another method of discouraging swallows is to put up fake owls or hawks on the docks. A few dock owners even install an electronic sound system that mimics a shrill cry of an owl or hawk when a swallow flies near the dock. A few dock owners even go as far as to destroy the nests. Technically, because the swallow falls under the Migratory Bird Act, destroying a nest that has eggs or baby birds is illegal.
The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) considers Feb. 15 to Sept. 1 to be the swallow nesting season and the nests cannot be touched or destroyed during this period without a special permit. Permits for destroying a swallow nest can only be issued for health and safety reasons.
Swallows are important in that they help control the insects. They are also an important part of the county”s ecosystem. What”s even more remarkable is this little bird travels thousands of miles just to visit our county.
