Comox Valley Record, Canada – Sep 28, 200
By Sandy
Fairfield
Sep 28 2014
Barn swallows are the most widely distributed and most abundant swallow species in the world.
These swallows breed in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. In North America their breeding grounds start in southern Alaska and cover most of Canada and the United States. With the exception of a small year-round population in Central America, they migrate to spend the winters in South America.
Originally Barn swallows were cave dwellers, but now almost exclusively nest in man-made structures.
As their name suggests, a favourite nesting habitat for these birds are agricultural buildings, especially barns. They have, however, adapted to other buildings, using overhangs under bridges and buildings to construct their nests.
Barn swallows are slender songbirds with a variety of vocal communications, and are about the size of a sparrow. Long, forked tails are unique to this species of swallow, making them easily identifiable in flight.
Barn swallows have beautiful, steely-blue iridescent wings, backs and tails; breasts and bellies are buff to reddish-brown; and their throats and foreheads are a deep chestnut colour.
Females will actually seek out a mate with long tailfeathers or “streamers,” and in addition prefer a mate with deep-chestnut plumage. Long, pointed wings, together with their long forked tails, make these birds streamlined acrobatic flyers — they need this agility during flight as they feed, drink and bathe on the wing. Small, weak feet are used only for perching; they rarely walk on the ground.
Food for the Barn swallow consists of a variety of flying insects, including beetles, grasshoppers, moths and large amounts of mosquitoes. These communal feeders will often be seen following a farmer as he ploughs the field, stirring up lots of insects for them to eat.
Barn swallows are usually monogamous, and mating pairs will often return yearly to the same breeding colonies. It is not unusual for as many as eight mated pairs to share the same barn. The male will serenade the female with outstretched wings, performing aerial displays to show off his tail and plumage.
Both birds are involved in nest-building, which can be a long process. Cup-shaped nests are constructed from grass and mud that is lined with fine straw, horsehair and feathers. It may take them over a thousand trips to collect mud — which is formed into a pellet and carried in their beaks — to construct the nest.
Construction often takes eight 14-hour days before the nest is completed. Both birds will take part in incubation and feeding of the young, who are born blind and covered only with sparse tufts of down.
Barn swallows will often have two broods in one year, and this year conditions were perfect for many species to produce more than one brood.
MARS received two young Barn swallows in the past few weeks, which were both late-bloomers from a second brood.
Unfortunately, only one bird was healthy and just seemed to be abandoned. It was obviously still being fed and was extremely hungry.
With no other young birds in our centre, volunteers had to provide the swallow with both flying lessons and an introduction to “flying food,” neither being an easy task! Once the swallow had mastered flight and feeding, it was sent to Victoria to catch up with other swallows, which had already migrated from the Comox Valley.
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With shorter days approaching for commuter travel, we remind people to watch for wildlife on the roads — use caution when wildlife crossings are posted. Now is also a great time to watch for unusual birds, as the fall migration is well underway.
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Tickets are now on sale at Crown Isle and at MARS for its annual Harvest Banquet.
For further information or to report injured wildlife, call 337-2021 or visit www.wingtips.org.
Sandy Fairfield is the educational co-ordinator for the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (MARS). The MARS column appears every second Friday.
