Connecticut River Bank Swallow Project: Western MA, 1997-1999, 2018

In Western MA we have seen major losses of Bank Swallow nesting habitat in the Turners Falls Power Pool of the Connecticut River over the last 20 years, as a direct result of an erosion control project.  This stretch of river is 34 km in length. The pumped storage facility there, now owned by Eversource Company, commenced operations in the Pool in 1972. These operations increased erosion; as of 1991, approximately one-third of the banks of the pool were actively eroding. This increase in erosion led to a consequent increase in Bank Swallow habitat; in 1999 there were six active colonies in the Pool totaling over 1000 nesting pairs, with 80% of the pairs nesting in one bank (demonstrating how colonial Bank Swallows are) (see Silver and Griffin 2009). However, since 1999, bank stabilization efforts to mitigate erosion have led to the elimination of almost all of these nesting banks. When the pool was surveyed in 2018, we found only one active Bank Swallow colony with approximately 80 pairs (this is a 92% decrease in number of breeding pairs since 1999). The bank stabilization project was carried out using a technique called “bioengineering,” which involves grading a bank and stabilizing it with materials such fabrics, logs, stone, and plantings. This type of treatment can supply habitat for other bird species, but is essentially a desert to nesting Bank Swallows.