COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS : Festival Marks Return of Swallows

The return of the cliff swallows to College of the Canyons from their winter home 3,000 miles away in South America has offered a unique learning opportunity for students, as well as an excuse to hold a festival.

For the fifth year, students from the Santa Clarita Valley campus and Cal State Northridge are conducting studies of the swallows through netting, weighing, banding and observing them. More than 200 students have participated in banding more than 1,000 birds over the years.

“The studies give students a chance to get directly involved in field research,” said Jim Dole, a CSUN biology professor involved in the study. “It’s experience you can’t get in a lab. You have real animals in the real world.”

Through the years, more birds have returned to College of the Canyons than to Mission San Juan Capistrano, college officials said. Officials estimate that as many as 1,600 will nest on campus buildings this year.

Students, faculty and community members gathered at College of the Canyons on Saturday to celebrate the swallows’ return. Swallow Day festivities included a morning bird-banding demonstration, a pancake breakfast, discussions about swallow behavior, conservation demonstrations, tours of a native plant garden, and a slide show and short video about swallow research.

College of the Canyons biology instructor Betty Rose said the festival has purposes other than just welcoming the birds.

“One is to let the community know that COC and California State University Northridge students have this unique research opportunity,” she said. “And another purpose is to make the community aware of the fact that these birds are here and are marvelous to view at sunset and at dawn.”

The structure of the college’s buildings allows for easy observation of the birds and their behavior. She described the birds as “highly social. They are interesting because they recognize individuals, work better in groups and teach each other social behavior.”

Dole, who is Rose’s husband, said some of the information gained from the swallow research may be ready for publication by next year. He added that students also learn simple procedures of scientific research--how to get data and interpret it.

“I think students are better able to make responsible decisions about the environment because they understand the methods of science,” Rose said.

She said students involved in the swallow project are not always biology majors. “It may just be their one contact with science and understanding it.”

Lori Hernandez, a nursing student who helped with the festival, said the research “makes you realize how important it is to preserve nature. With my children, the festival is a real big event. My daughter is really into watching birds.”

“With the ongoing research, every time you learn something, you realize how little you really know,” said Susan John, another nursing student who assisted in banding the birds.

At one time, the birds were considered a nuisance and attempts were made to drive them off campus. But that has changed, said Cindee Robinson, a lab technician who came to the campus in 1987.

“Now, I see people from the community come with their kids and get involved and really excited about the whole thing,” she said. “The best feedback is from students who do better in their studies as a result.”