Bank Swallow Projects

Anthropogenic changes to the landscape have both positively and negatively impacted nesting Bank Swallows. Bank Swallows readily use human-made nest sites, such as sand pits, road cuts, and soil stockpiles, but these gains have been offset by losses of natural habitat along rivers and seacoasts. Additionally, human-made sites tend to be ephemeral, while natural sites provide longer-term habitat. Bank Swallows are adapted to transient habitat, but within limits. For example, a river naturally meanders within its floodplain, eroding some areas, while depositing sediment in other areas. The locations of these areas of erosion and deposition change over time. This is the longer-term habitat to which Bank Swallows are adapted.

Many river systems in which Bank Swallows have historically nested are now heavily manipulated for energy production. This changes the erosional characteristics of rivers; to counteract these changes, bank erosion control projects are often undertaken and habitat for Bank Swallows is thereby lost. For example, Bank Swallows are state-listed as Threatened in California, primarily due to erosion control projects along the Sacramento River. Similar trends are occurring in other U.S. states and in Europe.