NEWBERRY — Guests who stay at the Holiday Inn and Express Suites, 121 Truman Avenue, Newberry, have a front row seat to something Newberry locals may be unaware of.

Over the past five years, the Holiday Inn has been home to a multitude of Cliff Swallows. These birds have built their homes, very similar to dirt daubers, underneath the portico and now on the outside of the hotel.

“The count last summer was 260-70 under the portico. Outside the building on the eaves, we don’t even count them because we can’t see them well enough to know whether they are active nests or not,” said Dianne Green, guest service representative at the Holiday Inn.

Green said the birds will come to them in early April and leave around early July. She said they usually start with about a dozen birds who hang around for several days; after a nice spring rain they will begin seeing more come in.

“This year has been an exception. The weather has been so strange, they don’t know if it’s summer or not. Normally this time of year we would have, based on last year’s population before the babies come, we would have 500 birds out here,” she said.

At the end of last summer, Green said they probably had around 800 birds (with babies). The birds, according to Green, are very active in the mornings and are less active as soon as it gets dusky.

She added some guests who come through confuse the nests as dirt, but said that is not the case.

“Built like a dirt dauber, get a dab of mud and together they build a tea cup and one bird will sit in the tea cup and the other bird will bring the mud and form the structure,” she said.

The nests, Green added, are structured so they will stay together and be able to hang onto the building.

“Probably one percent of our guests don’t like them, they confuse them for bats, (other) birds, bees, etc. Everyone else thinks they are fascinating,” Green said. “We even have people now who are coming back year after year to see the birds and see the growth of the colony.”

The birds are protected by the Federal Migratory Laws and cannot be disturbed during nesting season.

“We’re allowed to take them down 60 days after they finish nesting and we’ve done that once before, mainly to see if the nests were clean,” Green said. “If you read about them, it will tell you they share their nest, if a bird needs a home, for whatever reason they will let another bird get into their nest.”

She added that a lot of people think the birds are Barn Swallows or Purple Martins, which are twice the size than Cliff Swallows.

Green said by reaching out to the community they can learn more about the birds and you don’t even have to get out of your car to do it.

“Trying to reach out to the community to show something extraordinary, these birds are not supposed to be here. They are not in our travel path, their migratory path. Somehow they found their way here and we are going to celebrate it,” she said. “We like to encourage people to get out and watch them for a little bit, but if older folks want to come they don’t have to get out the car.”

If anyone would like to view the birds, Green said you don’t have to make an appointment, and the community is welcome to drop by the hotel any time to view them.

Over the last five years, the Holiday Inn has been home to colonies of Cliff Swallows who have built their nests under the hotel portico and now the eaves of the building.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_CliffSwallows.jpgOver the last five years, the Holiday Inn has been home to colonies of Cliff Swallows who have built their nests under the hotel portico and now the eaves of the building. Kelly Duncan | The Newberry Observer

By Kelly Duncan

kduncan@championcarolinas.com

Reach Kelly Duncan at 803-768-3123 ext. 1868 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.