It’s raining swifts in Monroe

Mid-June rain highlighted the mysterious migration pattern Vaux’s Swift watchers have been trying to better understand for more than a decade.

The species’ northbound migration is typically over by the end of May, but a thunderstorm hit on the night of June 10 and thousands of the small birds took refuge inside the decommissioned Frank Wagner Elementary School chimney on Main Street.

Larry Schwitters woke up early the next morning to record their exit.

“I logged on and was watching swifts coming in very rapidly, and I heard a big thunder clap,” the researcher said. “I heard a big kaboom, and we had a lot of swifts coming in there.”

The Issaquah man coordinates the long-term Vaux’s Happening study. He works with communities and organizations, such as local chapters of the National Audubon Society, to bring awareness and, hopefully, protections to crucial roosts.

Monroe is one of four sites in the Puget Sound region that has a Partners In Flight Important Bird Area designation. The title doesn’t offer legal safeguards, but brings more awareness to the swifts’ status.

“So, we are trying to get people to know and care about the birds,” he said.

More than half of the population heads north to breed in April and May. New families then head back down to southern Mexico and Costa Rica in the fall, starting in August.

On June 11, Schwitters recorded one of the highest single-day counts in the history of known northern migrations, and the highest for this year by far. About 12,420 swifts took nearly an hour to funnel out of the brick opening, he said.

“The question is, ‘Where are these birds coming from?’” he said.

Monroe’s chimney was at capacity on the night of June 10. There is only room for about 12,000 swifts to cling to the rough brick surface. That means they must hang on each other when they are packed in; they don’t squirm, they don’t fight.

Vaux’s Swifts don’t seem to be good at fluffing up to keep warm, which is the tactic used by other varieties. Instead, they share each other’s body heat and choose roosting and nesting locations that have been baking in the sun all day. Weather conditions seemingly play a role in the swifts’ movements.

Schwitters said counts stayed below 100 swifts per day in June leading up to the influx. On June 8, less than a dozen came through. On June 13, the weather took a downturn again, and roughly 6,900 were recorded.

“The birds seek shelter when it rains, and if it doesn’t rain, they are less apt to do so,” he said. “...I expect that if you get rain, you are going to get swifts.”

Thousands of birds should not be coming through this late, Schwitters said. In fact, a researcher in Canada has found their spring migration starts earlier each year because of global warming, he said.

Without the camera installed at the top of the Frank Wagner chimney, no one would be aware of this apparent anomaly, Schwitters said. He knows of only one other camera in the country that monitors swifts — it’s in Detroit. He knows because he put it there, while in his early 70s.

The camera captures a relative of the Vaux’s Swift, the North American Chimney Swift. About 8 million are in existence, and their population is concentrated on the East Coast.

Vaux’s Swifts are mostly seen on the opposite side of the country from their cousins. Part of their migrations take them along the West Coast, and some speculate, including Schwitters, into other areas like the Sierra Nevada range.

The swifts have been flying into Monroe for about 30 years, according to some of the city’s longtime residents, says Schwitters. Regional Audubon societies were able to convince the Monroe School District not to tear down the Frank Wagner chimney in 2007.

Instead, $100,000 was secured so the school district could earthquake-proof the structure. Schwitters also put deterrents around the entrance to protect the swifts from crows and hawks. Predators are believed to influence whether the swifts will return to a roost.

Next to no birds stopped last year in Sedro-Woolley, which is another important bird area, along with Selleck and Joint Base Lewis-McChord near DuPont. He suspects predation is a factor in why the swifts no longer use Northern State Hospital, an old psychiatric facility on Helmick Road.

Layovers appear to be shifting closer to home as well.

Volunteers observed the lowest counts in Monroe last year, but also one of the largest migrations yet. Schwitters speculated lingering smoke from forest fires may have had something to do with the decline, or that they may be choosing a new roost.

Schwitters doesn’t have a definitive answer to why so many birds are near Monroe right now.

He plans to continue to work with other groups and agencies, including the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, to see if they have more information on how many of the Vaux’s Swifts are around. Tacking on a tracking device to individual birds would be the quickest way to figure it out, he said. 

There is probably no quick answer to be had, Schwitters said. But that hasn’t stifled his interest.

“It is a look at the whole natural history of a species,” Schwitters said. “Is there a bird here that is aware enough of the weather and how nasty it is going to be, and they will travel a hundred miles to all group together? If there is, that is spectacular. Or is there actually a migration that goes on? And if there is, that’s spectacular too.”