KIE RELYEA
\nTHE BELLINGHAM HERALD
\n
\nBellingham Herald,\u00a0WA
\nThink of cliff swallows as social butterflies that come late to the party.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because they like to hang out with others of their kind, with reports of as many as 3,500 nests in one area. And while tree, barn and violet-green swallows have started to return to Whatcom County \u2014 bringing the first promise of spring with them \u2014 cliff swallows aren\u2019t expected back from their wintering grounds in the south end of South America until the end of this month.<\/p>\n
Their name derives from their old haunts.<\/p>\n
\u201cRock cliffs were their natural habitat until humans built large structures which are, in effect, \u2018wooden cliffs\u2019 to which the swallows adapted,\u201d explains Paul Woodcock, president of the North Cascades Audubon Society.<\/p>\n
Which is why their nests, made of mud and their saliva, are found under the eaves of buildings, especially barns, he adds. \u201cLocally, many people call them \u2018eave swallows.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Good grub to them is flying insects, which is why you\u2019ll find them foraging in circles in the air. Even if you don\u2019t know much about birds, you\u2019ve probably heard of cliff swallows. They\u2019re the ones that leave in swirling masses from San Juan Capistrano.<\/p>\n
Cliff swallows look like barn swallows but the former are plumper with a pale gray nape, dark throat, light belly and a short, square tail. Both use mud to make their nests, though the shapes are different.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe barn swallow\u2019s nest is an open cup while the cliff swallow\u2019s is globular and usually narrows at the top to a small round entrance,\u201d Woodcock says.<\/p>\n
Sources: Paul Woodcock; \u201cThe Sibley Guide to Birds,\u201d by David Allen Sibley; Birdweb.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KIE RELYEA THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Bellingham Herald,\u00a0WA Think of cliff swallows as social butterflies that come late to the party. That\u2019s because they like to hang out with others of their kind, with reports of as many as 3,500 nests in one area. And while tree, barn and violet-green swallows have started to return to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[413],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n