Birds set up shop at Joe Harris

Bird fans rejoice, barn swallow birds have made an impressive nest habitat at Joe Harris Elementary.

Joe Harris’ principal Trent Heffner has been with Rio Rancho Public Schools for 19 years and has never seen anything quite like this.

“We’ve seen the mud swallows before, but nothing to this level,” Heffner said.

The swallows’ nest habitat is located under the pillars closest to the cafeteria doors.

“I’ve never seen that many,” Heffner said. “I have a hard time counting the exact number, but there’s about a hundred nests underneath there.”

Toward the end of the school year, parents, students and staff began to notice a growing bird presence.

“There is a retention pond by the parking lot, so we were able to trace them and follow where they were getting the mud, and then you could go and watch them build the nest with the mud that’s from our property … which was pretty cool,” Heffner said.

It wasn’t long before the area by the cafeteria doors was filled with bird poop, twigs and dirt. However, the swallows are here to stay until they migrate as the swallows are a protected species.

“At this point, we are just letting them run their course, have their babies, and then they’ll migrate somewhere, and then we will clean up after that,” Heffner said.

The swallows are expected to migrate by the beginning of the new school year in August.