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WV, USA - Barn Swallows have finally arrived! (1 Viewer)

wvbirdwatcher

wvbirdwatcher

Well-known member
Been waiting for this day for quite some time, in fact, since last August! Saw my first two Barn Swallows of the season this morning. They arrived a week later than normal. A pair flew over the porch, and then one landed on the nearby utility wire, as shown in the first photo. We've had Tree Swallows here since early April, and this morning I again saw the same pair of Tree Swallows that I've been seeing. Besides the Barn and Tree Swallows this morning, I sighted 3 Robins, 5 Grackles, 1 Song Sparrow, 1 Mockingbird, 2 House Finches, 2 Cardinals, 1 Mourning Dove, and 1 Red-Winged Blackbird. A little while after the one Barn Swallow perched on the nearby utility wire, both of them were perched on a more distant wire (the lower one), with a Tree Swallow on the upper wire, as shown in the second photo. It may be difficult to see the second Barn Swallow on the lower wire, but it is on the far left. Gloomy morning, not as much light as I would have liked. The Tree Swallows do not allow me to get as close to them as do the Barn Swallows.
 

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Hi Adele! They've been here for a couple of weeks now but all very busy building nests under the piers and boardwalks and none sitting still at the moment for a photo ;) A DNR guy and I put on some waders and went under one of the boardwalk and we counted 84 nests and that's just under one of the boardwalks. ;)
 
Here they fly into spaces below the deck of restaurant-boats on the river. It is very low, just above water. I don't know if the whole boat rises upwards if water level rises or if that space will be flooded (I hope not). According to forecast, rivers will rise during the weekend due to rain we will get in next few days.

I wonder if Tree Swallows are an American counterpart of House Martins? I saw very few House Martins this year.
 
Zheljko said:
I wonder if Tree Swallows are an American counterpart of House Martins? I saw very few House Martins this year.
Click to expand...

I would say the Cliff Swallow is the closest North American counterpart to the House Martin, not the Tree Swallow, certainly as far as breeding habits are concerned.
 
KC, do you think many of them are re-using old nests, or maybe the weather is so rough on the shore that the old nests get destroyed? How far apart are the nests from one another, could you tell?
 
Around here, which is partially a rural farming area, Barn Swallows tend to live up to their name. They build nests not only in barns, but also under ledges and protected areas of other outbuildings and also on people's porches, like mine! I live right on the border of a horse farm and also a hayfield. The Barn Swallows love to swoop in the field and catch insects. There is some water nearby, consisting of a couple of creeks and a river.
 
As to the Barn Swallows, all the nests we looked at under the boardwalk looked brand new and in good shape. The nests were sometimes as close to a foot apart so how they don't get confused as to whose kid is whose I have no idea.
 
Yes, Cliff Swallows are colony nesters with rare exceptions. We have Purple Martins in the US, and people put up nest-box complexes for them because their populations have been on the decline.
 
So you have not had any nest-building going on yet in your boxes, KC? Things seem to be getting started late this year. I'm thinking that the birds may start using them soon.
 
So sorry to hear that, KC. I guess time will tell if nesting schedules are just late this year. I'm still seeing Chickadees at my feeder, but last year I did not see them past March. I read that they often disappear from feeders around nesting time because they go into the woods to nest ... or, in your case, to your nest boxes. I had almost given up on the Barn Swallows because they usually arrive right around April 15th.
 
This morning I was inside my apartment, glancing out my storm door, when at least two Barn Swallows flew to the eave of the porch, then quickly away! They are definitely investigating either the old swallow nest on the porch or the porch area in general to build a new nest. Time will tell as to whether they actually decide to nest on the porch. Last year they began preparing the nest for use, but then abandoned their plans after a couple of weeks.
 
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