Sorry, the following is not about birds in Virginia but a colleague sent it
along and I thought it too good not to share. It is really gratifying that
these are Barn Swallows and not House Sparrows. Cheers,
Steve Young
Arlington
Subject: Interesting story: "Nesting barn swallows figure out how to
gain access to the
HomeDepot"
From the St. Paul Pioneer Pressopen.
Sat, Jun. 26, 2004
Birds opening the coop
Nesting barn swallows figure out how to
gain access to the Maplewood HomeDepot,
amazing workers and wildlife experts.
BY KERMIT PATTISON
Perhaps bird brains should be given a little more credit.
Some barn swallows apparently have figured out how to operate
motion detector doors at the Home Depot store in Maplewood
in order to nest indoors safe from weather and predators.
Wildlife biologists from the Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources are observing the birds as an unusual example
of learned behavior and adaptation to the human environment.
"I thought this is so unusual that it needs to be recorded and
put in the book of knowledge on barn swallows," said Keith
Stomberg, the Home Depot employee who first noticed the
phenomenon. "This takes deductive reasoning. The term 'bird brain'
now has got to be modified."
Steve Kittelson, a DNR wildlife specialist, said it remains unclear
to what degree the swallows have "learned" to trigger the motion
sensors. Obviously, the birds have figured out that if they circle
outside - much as they would instinctively do in front of a closed
barn door - they will eventually get through. The question is whether
they realize that their own presence actually triggers the door to
"It's very interesting and amazing to watch that they can make this
work to their advantage," Kittelson said. "It certainly gives them
a secure site for nesting. They've eliminated a lot of predators
and weather elements. They even have air conditioning."
This year marks the fourth spring the swallows have taken up
residence inside the giant home improvement retailer at 2360
White Bear Ave. Now there are at least a dozen nests inside
various entrances, said store manager Gregg Barker.
"They'll operate all the doors," said Barker. "All of them do.
To get inside, they'll flutter right underneath these sensors until
it opens."
The cavernous store has become an attraction for birdwatchers.
"One lady, she stops in once a week just to check them out,"
said Barker. "I had a couple groups bird watching who come
and set up videos to tape them."
Stomberg said he first noticed the unusual behavior about three
years ago while working at the contractor's desk near a set of
automatic doors. He said the swallows would flutter by the
motion detectors until the door opened and even would do so
as a courtesy for birds on the other side who wanted to get through.
"One of the assistant managers locked the door early," Stomberg
recalled. "The barn swallows weren't done yet. They actually
picked him and harassed him until he unlocked the door like,
'Hey! Unlock the door dummy, I'm not done feeding my kids!' "
Stomberg said he called the Department of Natural Resources
last year. The DNR officials who came to investigate last spring
initially were skeptical, he said, but then "picked their jaws up
off the floor" as they watched the birds.
Carrol Henderson, nongame wildlife supervisor for the DNR,
said his team immediately saw swallows flying in and out of
the door as they fed their young. Furthermore, he said the birds
apparently remember the behavior from year to year and return
to the same spot after winter migrations to Central and South
America.
"It expands our appreciation for the fact that there are lots of
different birds and animals who may have intelligence greater
than we acknowledge but normally they don't have a way of
expressing it," said Henderson. "In this case, they're doing
something above and beyond normal behavior. Here's a little
piece of technology where they figured out the motion detector."
Kermit Pattison can be reached at kpattison AT pioneerpress.com
or at 651-228-2183.
