Author: Swallow Bird Nest

theava.com
by Rob Lee

Whether the Giants are winning games in big fistfuls, or can’t produce as much offense as a foul-mouthed grandmother, there’s always a good reason to go to their ballpark. I’m not talking about the starlings foraging in the outfield grass, or the hordes of Western gulls that begin gathering faithfully during the seventh-inning stretch (although the best seats for my proposed entertainment are in the upper deck, with the gulls).

I’m speaking of the barn swallow and the white-throated swift, foraging on all those beer-crazed bugs rising off the crowd. While these birds are seemingly quite similar — long, swept-back wings, the aerodynamics of great fliers — the swallow is a song bird and the swift is not; actually more closely related to hummingbirds.
Read more about Swifts and Swallows …

associatedcontent.com
By D. Miller
The barn swallow, or Hirundo rustica, is an amazing bird to watch. These little birds travel a long distance in their six to eight years of life. These birds are found all over the world, except for Australia. The interesting thing about barn swallows is that they nest in large colonies. If you live near an open field or on the countryside, chances are you can easily attract these amazing birds. We have barn swallows that nest on our front porch every year. Watching these birds is a true delight.
Read more about Barn Swallows: Recognizing and Attracting These Graceful Birds …

news.cornell.edu/ By Roger Segelken Earlier springs with warmer temperatures over the past 30 years have prompted a ubiquitous North American bird species, tree swallows, to begin laying eggs, on average, a week or more earlier. But whether these harbingers of global warming are being adversely affected by changing weather patterns isn’t clear, biologists in New […]

Learn the Important Features of a Nesting Box That Will Attract Nesting Birds to Your Yard
© Rosemary Drisdelle
A nesting box has to be right for the bird. Choose a local bird, check box dimensions, hole size and position, and select an appropriate location for a perfect fit.

In the spring, a bird’s thoughts turn to nesting; you can help the birds and improve your backyard bird habitat by providing a bird house, or nesting box. Don’t just hang any old box with a hole in it up in a tree, however: you’ll need to place the right kind of nesting box, for the right kind of bird, in the right place. Birds can be fussy about bird house design; if you want the Yellow-shafted Flicker that hunts ants on your lawn to nest in your trees, a nest box designed for Black-capped Chickadees isn’t going to work.

First, choose the right bird. What birds frequent feeders or other food sources on your property? The birds that already visit are the ones most likely to check into a nesting box. If you want to attract new birds to your property, think about the geography nearby: if you have a lake within 3.25 km (2 miles) of your home, putting up Tree Swallow nesting boxes might bring them.
Read more about Hang a Nesting Box for Birds …

eurekalert.org ITHACA, N.Y. — Even after they have paired with a male, the female North American barn swallow still comparison-shops for sexual partners. And forget personality; the females judge males by their looks — the reddish color of the males’ breast and belly feathers. If the male’s red breast is not as dark as other […]

biologynews.net

Even after they have paired with a male, the female North American barn swallow still comparison-shops for sexual partners. And forget personality; the females judge males by their looks — the reddish color of the males’ breast and belly feathers.

If the male’s red breast is not as dark as other males in the population, the female is more likely to leave him and then secretly copulate with another male, according to a Cornell University study featured on the cover of the journal Science (Sept. 30, 2005).

“The bad news for male swallows is the mating game is never over,” said lead author Rebecca Safran, who conducted the study while a Cornell postdoctoral researcher in ecology and evolutionary biology, and in the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. “It is dynamic and continual. This is something that most humans can relate to — think of how much time and money we spend on our looks and status long after we have established stable relationships.”
Read more about Looks matter to female barn swallows …

birdnature.com “There swims no goose so gray, but soon or late, She takes some honest gander for a mate;” There live no birds, however bright or plain, But rear a brood to take their place again. — C. C. M. QUITE the jolliest season of the year, with the birds, is when they begin to […]

borealforest.org Description Distinguishing Features – Back and head, shiny steel blue with greenish reflections. under parts and throat, white. Bill, black. Tail, forked. Female slightly smaller and somewhat duller in colouration. Size – 12.5 – 15.7 cm (5 – 6.25 in). Habitat Around waterways, marshes and beaver ponds. Nesting In a tree cavity or old […]

dukenews.duke.edu
Durham, N.C. — In findings that may offer insight into how evolution operates, a Duke University evolutionary ecologist reported evidence that aggressive male western bluebirds out-compete less aggressive males for preferred breeding territories. In the process, she found that more-aggressive and milder mannered birds also tended to breed in different settings that favor different body types.This study, conducted by Renée Duckworth, suggests the birds may play more active roles in their own natural selection than traditional models of evolution would support.
Read more about Evolutionary Consequences of Bluebird Aggression Evaluated …

geocities.com Few people realize that we share our school campus with a wide variety of native wildlife. Have you noticed two inconspicuous bowls of mud plastered to the corner of the roof in front of the lobby? These are the nests, one apparently abandoned, of a pair of Pacific swallows, a common bird in Taiwan. […]