Barn swallows are a common bird species across North America that have adapted to nest and raise their young in man-made structures, such as I-beams, roof overhangs, or tunnel supports. This nesting pattern becomes a particular issue within parks across the US, when barn swallows nest in picnic shelters and their droppings, or guano, end up on picnic tables, which then become unsanitary and unpleasant to look at and use.

The clean-up of these shelters can become expensive especially when left to accumulate, while the alternative of cleaning up the guano stains daily is incredibly tiring for maintenance workers. Alternative solutions to deter the barn swallows that have been utilized by the FPCC each has their own weaknesses, which are listed as follows:

• Netting prevents barn swallows from perching and nesting in the beams, but leaves the barn swallows with no place to nest and can strangle the barn swallows to death
• Bird spikes don't promote the FPCC's nature-friendly messaging and are ineffective at deterring barn swallows
• Painting the ceilings of the picnic shelters blue in an attempt to simulate the sky was also ineffective in deterring the barn swallows

Our group was tasked with designing a product that prevents the droppings from contaminating the tables while ensuring the barn swallows still have adequate places to nest.

After breaking down the design problem and conducting our preliminary research, our group decided to brainstorm potential solutions that could be implemented at the FPCC picnic shelters.

These are the initial sketches I made with some ideas on how my group could approach our solution:

• Slates to catch the poop: this idea was a way to allow the barn swallows to retain their nests in the picnic shelters while diverting their guano away from the picnic tables underneath
• Rainguard design: this idea was another way to avoid relocating the barn swallows but reduce the risk of the guano falling onto the picnic tables by collecting directly at the source
• Alternative nesting site: this idea was suggested as a way to relocate the barn swallow nests to a separate structure that allows them to still reside in the area but away from areas and surfaces that park visitors eat off of

My group and I then narrowed the solutions down to 4 main types, which are as follows:

• Separation concept: an alternative layer above the users to protect the picnic tables but below the barn swallow nests that could collect the guano
• Shelf concept: an external shelf on the outer walls of the picnic shelters that could serve as an alternate location for the barn swallows to build their nests
• Catcher concept: a rainguard-like contraption to redirect the guano away from the picnic tables
• Separate alternative nesting concept: an alternative structure for the barn swallows to nest in

I focused on developing the separate alternative nesting site concept and ways this structure could potentially be constructed and how the barn swallows could be redirected to said structure.

To explore possible ways to modify the features of the separate alternative nesting site, I sketched a couple of possible features that could be modified so that my group could discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each variation. These features included:

• The shape of the structure
• The methods of allocating nest space within the structure

The sketches were designed in a way that allowed my group and I to consider different combinations of each structure shape and space allocation.

After getting feedback from our clients, professors, and a wildlife expert, we settled on a final design for each of the concepts. For the separate alternative nesting site, we decided on the rectangular-shaped structure with shelving accommodations with the following features:

• The roof protects the barn swallows from harsh weather
• The rectangular shape optimizes the perimeter while mimicking the picnic shelter structures
• Posts are 10 feet off the ground to protect the nests from people standing on tables to tamper with the nests
• The structure has a capacity for 24 different nests and the shelves are spaced out to allocate space while providing each barn swallow nest some personal space

These are the final designs for my separate alternative nesting site concept, which were created using SketchUp. The features of the design are as follows:

• The roof has 3 layers, plywood, felt roofing, and roof shingles, to insulate the heat and protect the birds from harsh weather and vandalism
• The shelves are attached to the main body using wood glue and brackets
• The rectangular shape optimizes the perimeter available and mimics the picnic shelters
• The shelves are spaced to optimize area while giving the barn swallows personal space
• The posts go 3.5’ into the ground and 2.5’ into the main body to ensure they are securely grounded and attached to the body