Swallows’ Return to Be a Real Tweet : Festival: College of the Canyons throws a party for the birds flying in from Argentina. But their arrival hasn’t always been welcomed.

At this time of year, College of the Canyons is really for the birds. Cliff swallows have returned to the Valencia campus, just as they have every spring since the school was built more than two decades ago.

The birds’ arrival from their Argentina winter home will be celebrated with a Swallow Festival on Saturday. The event begins with a 5 a.m. bird-banding demonstration, offering visitors a close-up look at swallows being netted, weighed, banded and released.

Tours, slide shows and videos will explain swallow behavior and research experiments conducted by the College of the Canyons and Cal State Northridge students and faculty. Activities for children include building bird feeders, a swallow hunt and pin-the-tail-on-the-swallow games. A pancake breakfast will be served from 6 to 10 a.m.

The Swallow Festival will be combined with another celebration on campus, this one in honor of two-legged young ones. The second annual “Day of the Child,” sponsored by College of the Canyon’s Child Development Center, begins at 10 a.m. and continues until midafternoon.

Face painting, storytelling, puppet shows, pony rides, nature walks, a petting zoo and animal shows are among the activities scheduled. Singing and dance performances by several youth groups begin at 10 a.m. and vendors will be on hand to demonstrate educational toys, equipment, books and records.

The annual return of the swallows wasn’t always celebrated with such joyous fanfare at the college. In past years, school officials washed down nests, spread Vaseline and Crisco on walls, sprayed Teflon and faked the birds out with fiberglass facades--all in an effort to keep the swallows away. One year, the college was fined $500 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when a gluey repellent killed and crippled dozens of birds, and still the swallows flew back year after year. The college finally decided that if you can’t beat ‘em, have a party.

According to biology professor Betty Rose, the college provides nearly ideal conditions for swallows. Campus buildings with many ledges and angles support the birds’ igloo-shaped nests and protect them from predators and the elements. Lawn sprinklers provide water, open fields harbor insects for feeding, and the baseball diamond holds mud for nest building.

However, Rose suspects that the school’s swallow population will dwindle as Valencia and the Santa Clarita Valley become increasingly developed. In 1989, more than 1,500 swallows nested at the college. Last year, the number was down by about one-third. There may be even fewer this year.

Those who don’t attend the Swallow Festival still have time to drop by the campus for some bird-watching. By the end of April, swallows have laid eggs and started incubating them and visitors can watch the birds soar, swoop and swirl. According to Rose, the best time to see these spectacular displays of “aerial ballet” is just before sunset or the first thing in the morning.

“These birds are so special to the Santa Clarita Valley,” Rose said. “I think everyone in the community ought to free up some time and watch what is happening here before there won’t be many birds left.”

The Swallow Festival begins at 5 a.m. Saturday with a bird-banding demonstration at College of the Canyons, 26455 N. Rockwell Canyon Road, Valencia. Pancake breakfast, displays, tours, games and activities continue from 6-10 a.m. Day of the Child events and performances begin at 10 a.m. and continue through midafternoon. Admission is free, but there is a charge for the pancake breakfast and pony rides. Information: (805) 259-7800.