Swallows in Flight to Yachats (SWIFTY)

SWIFTY is a group of retirees that builds nesting boxes as part of Seven Cape’s Community Science program. This effort started seven years ago in the Yachats area and now encompasses projects throughout Oregon’s central coast. SWIFTY members began building boxes for swallows and ducks; several hundred swallow boxes have been installed and more than 100 are being monitored for nesting success each year.

In 2023, SWIFTY launched the Purple Martin Initiative (see below). Approximately 100 Purple Martin boxes have been installed since 2023. The West Coast subspecies is of ecological concern with only 3,500 nesting pairs. SWIFTY received grants to tag four birds in Summer 2026. As of this writing, we are beginning to track these birds on their fall migration to southeast Brazil.

Why nest boxes?

Most species of insectivorous birds (birds that rely on insects for food) are in decline in the western U.S. due to climate change, pesticides, and habitat destruction. Some of these species were historically dependent upon woodpecker holes and tree cavities for nesting. Logging has reduced the number of snags with suitable cavities, and competition from European Starlings and House Sparrows has exacerbated the problem. Our mission is to help these cavity-nesting insectivores, including Purple Martins and other swallows, chickadees, ducks, owls, and wrens by providing them with additional nesting sites. Nest boxes are built to mimic these natural hollows and can be installed strategically to invite native birds to habitat restoration sites.

Wood Duck box at Beaver Creek

Swallow box at Siletz Bay

Purple Martin pole at Hatfield

Purple Martin Initiative

*Purple Martin colony boxes at Waldport docks*

Although SWIFTY’s main focus has been supporting cavity nesting swallows (Tree and Violet-Green Swallows), in 2023 we launched a new initiative to support Purple Martins (PUMAs). There are believed to be only about 3,500 nesting pairs of these large swallows in the western United States. In Oregon, PUMAs nest on the coast and in the major river valleys. These attractive birds are largely dependent on artificial nest boxes, and many of the existing boxes in Lincoln County were falling apart and needed to be replaced. SWIFTY has built and deployed numerous nest boxes and helped Eric Horvath build over 40 new boxes, which he installed on the Yaquina River.

In 2026 Dr. Sarah Rockwell of the Klamath Bird Observatory approached SWIFTY with a request to provide birds for her electronic tagging project. In response, we built and modified numerous boxes to capture the birds for tagging. Twenty of these boxes were installed at five locations in Lincoln County and beyond. Six of “our” birds were used by Dr. Rockwell in her tagging project. Four of the tags were funded by grants from the Oregon Birding Association and Seven Capes Bird Alliance. By tracking the tagged birds, we hope to learn more about the PUMAs’ migration route and overwintering sites.