By Spencer Bowman, Northwest Room Librarian
The Spring bird migration in the Tacoma area has recently peaked. The highest predicted stopover density occurred in early to late May. According to the Purdue AeroEco Lab, the 90th percentile of migration activity for Washington State and the Puget Sound and Tacoma region was expected during the nights of April 29-May 1, 2026, when millions of birds were predicted to fly over our heads. In celebration of this event, the Northwest Room is highlighting our avian neighbors who are represented in many different ways throughout the Northwest Room’s collections.
Photographs
Sparrows, Herons, Glaucous Gulls, and other birds grace many of the pictures throughout our photograph collections. For instance, this perfectly timed pigeon picture from a Tacoma News Tribune photograph, shot by Warren Anderson, shows Jim Sulenes’ homing pigeons. In August 1980, Sulenes was the golf coach at Curtis High School. Out of his 60 pigeons, 27 of the young ones were preparing to fly in a benefit race to support the American Heart Association. Over 1,000 birds from Western Washington lofts participated, starting in Salem, OR, and ending in Tacoma. The previous year’s race raised almost $10,000.
According to the Audubon Society’s website, recent research suggests that pigeons use brainstem cells linked to the inner ear, which activate in response to Earth’s magnetic fields. Once the race began, the Tacoma News Tribune article that featured the photo explained, “The pigeons will be on their own as they battle weather, hawks, mountains, high-tension lines, perhaps Mount St. Helens' ash and simply flying uncharted pathways.”
To browse many other bird‑related images (click here)
Periodicals
The Northwest Room houses a collection of The Towhee, the publication of the Tacoma Audubon Society, now known as the Tahoma Bird Alliance. The collection stretches from March 1969 to May 2014. The articles in these newsletters touch not only on events and activities but also on environmental issues, bird counts, legislative action, and educational opportunities.
One article in the December 1981 issue discussed the difficulties in regulating the effects of Tacoma’s environmentally hazardous areas, including pesticides, that had turned parts of Tacoma into one of the nation’s 10 most hazardous waste sites. Concentrations of pollutants were found in Commencement Bay, the tide flats, and Nalley Valley. While the major local industries were complying with permits to control discharge of pollutants, the permit language was limited in listing toxicants and discharge limits. Air pollution was also addressed in the article. Walter De Haan of the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency, which enforced emission standards, said his agency faced problems with contamination control. The maximum fine his agency could issue to violators was $250, which he called “a drop in the bucket” to a large industry like ASARCO.
Books
Our collection of bird‑related books spans field guides on birding, reports, and regional studies. One of the earliest was published by Samuel N. Rhoads in 1893. His book, The Birds Observed in British Columbia and Washington During Spring and Summer, 1892, details what he described as his “ornithological résumé of a collecting trip” in Washington State and British Columbia that year. Prior to this book, Rhoads stated that surveys of this region’s ornithology were very meager. Other than mentions in Pacific Railroad reports on the area, there were no substantial studies of birds in the region. He went on to list the species he and other birders had found, among them some birds that can still be found in the area, such as Virginia Rail, Hudsonian Curlew (in the Tacoma tide flats), and the Red‑breasted Sapsucker, among many others.
Another book, titled The Birds of Washington, by William Leon Dawson and John Hooper Bowles of Tacoma, presents a color‑illustrated guide published in 1909. More than Rhoads’ inventory list, this book includes pages on physical descriptions of different species, their life cycles, and their habitat, in both photos and color illustrations by Allan Brooks.
Some of the bird books that detail the species and habitat of our particular location include Birding in the San Juan Islands by Mark G. Lewis and Fred A. Sharpe (1987), Birds of Lakewood and Steilacoom by Christopher B. Chappell (1979), Birds of the Olympic Peninsula by E. A. Kitchin (1945), and The Birds of Vashon Island: A Natural History of Habitat & Population Transformation by Ed Swan (2016).
One overarching theme addressed in most of these materials is that birds are not just distant wildlife but neighbors who rely on the same land, water, and air that we do. Their presence in the archives reflects the intertwined story of people, place, and the natural world in Tacoma and Washington State.
If you are an experienced birder, someone curious about learning more about the species in our area or interested in looking at any of the materials mentioned in this post, we invite you to visit the Northwest Room.
The Northwest Room's Hours
Tuesday - Open 4:00-8:00
Wednesday - Appointment only from 5:00-7:00
Thursday - Open 10:00-6:00
Friday - Appointment only from 2:00-5:00
Saturday - Open 10:00-6:00
