PENDLETON, Ore. — The state prison in Pendleton has a problem with jail birds.
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution each spring gets into a knock-down fight with swallows. Thousands of the migratory birds arrive in late March and early April and build nests on eaves and windowsills along the prison walls, some four stories off the ground.
EOCI spokesman Ron Miles said that lots of birds also means plenty of bird bombs from overhead and insects that creep into the prison from the nests. This season, he said, the prison has spent $3,420 getting rid of bedbugs in six inmate units.
Those health concerns prompted prison officials two years ago to ask for help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, because swallows are migratory and fall under the protection of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Wildlife Service biologist Suzanne Anderson of La Grande traveled to Pendleton and consulted with prison officials, Miles said.
They came up with a plan to hose down the nests as soon as the birds start building, he said. Workers use binoculars to look for any bird activity in a nest. If they see movement they leave the nest and go to the next. If nothing is going on, down comes the nest in a rush of water.
Miles said the prison has never counted the nests, but he guessed thousands cover the buildings. Knocking them down is the best solution, he said, but the prison needed approval from Fish and Wildlife.
Miel Corbett in Portland is the spokeswoman for the USFWS Pacific Northwest region. She said staff met with prison officials about the best way to remove the nests.
Miles said the prison has gotten some angry calls about the work, and he understands the concern. The East Oregonian and Pendleton police also have heard from a resident or two upset with EOCI for removing the nests.
Swallows generally lay eggs in early April, Corbett said, and they hatch about two to three weeks later. The young birds are ready to take their first flight in another three weeks or so. They stick near their homes for several weeks after. All told, she said, nesting season can last for months.
During nesting time, she said, the federal bird act means hands off the nests. So EOCI workers take on the birds when they swarm the prison in the spring.
“As soon as they start building the nests, we start knocking them down,” Miles said.
But the birds build. And build. And build. So much and so fast, Miles said, that just keeping up is a real chore.
Once the nests are done and the adults lay eggs, staff do their best to leave the nests be. By late August the young birds can fly and move on.
“Then we knock down the nests,” Miles said, “and try to discourage them from coming back and reusing them.”
EOCI’s efforts may have created some success, he said, but the birds could be setting up at the Round-Up Grounds.
Violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act can carry several penalties, Corbett said, and circumstances dictate the punishment. Corbett said the agency has not received complaints about the prison.
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