Amidst the industrial operations along the banks of the Detroit River, a colony of over 300 Bank Swallows have found a temporary home. Considerable improvements in environmental quality have occurred in the Detroit River over the last 35 years and the Detroit Metropolitan Area is gaining an international reputation for its public-private partnerships for conservation.

The rewards of this environmental protection and conservation work can easily be seen in the rich diversity of wildlife that frequent this industrial heartland and International Wildlife Refuge. Bank Swallows, a protected migratory bird in the U.S. and Canada, have been attracted by the multitude of insects associated with the Detroit River.

They have built their nests in a 4,000 ton pile of dolomite owned by Detroit Bulk Storage on property leased from U. S. Steel in River Rouge, Michigan. 

This spring Detroit Riverkeeper Bob Burns, Bruce Szczechowski and students from Southgate Anderson High School, and Greg Norwood of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were performing a colonial waterbird survey in the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge when they noticed a relatively large colony of Bank Swallows just downstream of the confluence of the Detroit and Rouge rivers.

Here one sees large bulk piles of dolomite and other materials used for a variety of industrial operations. These people doing the survey did not expect to see over 300 Bank Swallows nesting, especially in the center of such industrial operations and in the shadow of a major steel company.

The dolomite pile where the Bank Swallows chose to raise over 1,000 young was approximately 50 feet high, with a diameter of approximately 100 feet. If the pile of dolomite was disrupted during the key nesting period, the young could be lost. Noel Frye, vice president of Detroit Bulk Storage said, “when we were made aware of the Bank Swallow nests we were most pleased to limit our operations in the area and even place newly arrived material in another location to protect them during their critical nesting period.”

It is not the first time this species of bird has utilized man-made structures for nesting since they are often documented in other parts of its cosmopolitan range in rock quarries and sand and gravel pits. The ephemeral nature of the species’ natural nesting venues of muddy banks, sand dunes, and lakeshores makes this species well-adapted to re-finding appropriate habitat year-after-year.

This dolomite pile was clearly more than they could pass up.  Boaters and fisherman were able to easily see this avian hotel of about 300 holes dug with their feet, head, and wings as they cruised and fished by the steel mill. “U. S. Steel takes pride in its commitment to environmental protection as evidenced by recent improvements in air emissions and shoreline habitat along the Detroit River, and we wanted to do whatever we could to help” notes Gary Kadau, director - community resources.