Swallows nesting in September (1 Viewer)

[JimThorne]

Swallows nest irregularly in my barn in Cornwall, UK (they prefer it when the doors are left open, but they find their way in by other accesses on occasion, perhaps through a small hole in the wall(. This year we had a nesting couple at the usual time, May or June, who successfully raised their brood. The swallows have remained around all summer and in fact continued to use the nest after the young were fledged. So far, so normal.

What has amazed me is to realise from droppings on the ground less than a week ago, that despite the closed barn doors a new nest has appeared in the rafters. Yesterday and this morning, I spent a happy time sitting still in a chair in the barn, waiting for the feeding drama. Every four or five minutes, two swallows in swift (sorry!) succession would arrive to feed the young in a fraction of a second and then be off again.

Is it not very unusual to have nesting swallows so late in the summer? The poor young things have a few thousand miles to fly in a month or so.

I would find it very interesting if others have similar experience.

 

[Qingcol]

Is it not very unusual to have nesting swallows so late in the summer? The poor young things have a few thousand miles to fly in a month or so.

I would find it very interesting if others have similar experience.

Hi Jim, No it’s not unusual to find Barn Swallows still nesting in September! You can easily pick out the weaker young when Swallows group together in late autumn, but more to the point so can their predators! It’s almost as if the Swallows in a good year are rearing a sacrificial brood for the Hobby Falcon, this makes sense in as much as, for every weakling that has very little chance of making the long perilous journey to South Africa killed by a Falcon will spare a strong individual that has a good chance of returning to Britain to breed next year.

 

[JimThorne]

Hi Jim, No it’s not unusual to find Barn Swallows still nesting in September! You can easily pick out the weaker young when Swallows group together in late autumn, but more to the point so can their predators! It’s almost as if the Swallows in a good year are rearing a sacrificial brood for the Hobby Falcon, this makes sense in as much as, for every weakling that has very little chance of making the long perilous journey to South Africa killed by a Falcon will spare a strong individual that has a good chance of returning to Britain to breed next year.

Thanks for your informative reply, Qingcol - I was a little disappointed to learn that it is not unusual for swallows to nest in September! The sorry sequel is that our brood of three have remained so attached to their barn that they have continued their sleepovers there while their parents and cousins have gattered and flown. What will happen to them now, I wonder? I have read somewhere that some of them overwinter in the south of England and forget all about migration - we shall see. Jim

 

[HughPulsford]

Thanks for your informative reply, Qingcol - I was a little disappointed to learn that it is not unusual for swallows to nest in September! The sorry sequel is that our brood of three have remained so attached to their barn that they have continued their sleepovers there while their parents and cousins have gattered and flown. What will happen to them now, I wonder? I have read somewhere that some of them overwinter in the south of England and forget all about migration - we shall see. Jim

Hi Jim
they will find there way south no problem, the later broods just end up going later. The ones at a stables where I ring and monitor 14 or so nests, had many doing third brood late into September and the last fledged birds have just gone this week.They will go all the way. A pullus I ringed last year in early september was controlled in Spain in late October, presumably feeding up to do the whole trans-saharan hop.
regards
Hugh

 

[Qingcol]

Hi Jim
they will find there way south no problem, the later broods just end up going later. The ones at a stables where I ring and monitor 14 or so nests, had many doing third brood late into September and the last fledged birds have just gone this week.They will go all the way. A pullus I ringed last year in early september was controlled in Spain in late October, presumably feeding up to do the whole trans-saharan hop.
regards
Hugh

I am genuinely interested in the plight of these late broods, I used to ring adults and pullus for many years in an area large enough to control some returning (miles from where they were reared) young birds but I never managed to control or get any recoveries (using an old fashion card system) from a September reared youngster,I have had recoveries from pullus left behind around the nest site by departing adults. Your control in Spain is impressive but it’s still a long way from South Africa it still leaves the major challenges like the Mediterranean and the Sahara to overcome. It would be encouraging to find out that some very late birds had completed this epic journey, do you or the Ringing Office have any controls or recoveries to support your theory that many do? There must be a mountain of data on Barn Swallows after all these years of ringing. In my own experience from watching predators like Hobby consistently taking these weaker birds at roost sites I remain to be convinced until the data proves otherwise, and if it did I would not be disappointed! I would just like to know.
Colin

 

[christineredgate]

I took a shot yesterday of a young Swallow,obviously the last of the brood,and I have ,in past years taken shots of youngsters in Oct!!!,in our river.