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> Hi Paul and all Is it the usual for Barn Swallows to not nest anywhere outside but rather prefer inside spaces exclusively (barn, shed or garage or...)? I have nature-loving friends who have rebuilt their barns and made sure no swallows can get in and make a mess of their tractors etc. They feel the Barn Swallows will nest outside under the eaves instead. Maybe they are wrong? I have to agree with George Forsyth. Watching Swallows of any species swoop over open land is an aerial show worth seeing. Nancy On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 10:15 AM, Paul MacDonald <paulrita2001@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Very interesting George > One thing that cattle attracted was flies and mosquitos > and the barn swallows followed the cattle closely. > I grew up on a small mixed farm with 50 head of cattle > and always lots of barn swallows. The swallows would light on > the cattle's back in the field. In fact my Grandfather when he was > working in the field would have them light on his shoulders. > Of course there was so many added each year some would > have to take up residence at other peoples farms or buildings. > cattle or no cattle. > There was two species Cliff Swallows ( Hirundo pyrrhonota ) which were > called Eave Swallows and Barn Swallows ( Hirundo rustica ). > Eave swallows nest outside under the eaves. My Grandfather had put > up a board under the eave of the buildings near the well where they > nested. English Sparrows and Starlings done a bad job on them. > Especially the Sparrows and the Eave swallows soon disapppeared > when they arrived. The Barn swallows held on until the cattle left. > We also had a large colony of Bank Swallows ( Riparia riparia ) in > the front field. They nested in the south facing bank which was about 15 m > in height. It worked good - we could only cultivate to about 5 m > from the edge the bank so that ground was undisturbed and left > to the swallows. Horses had more fear of falling over the edge than did > tractors! > The arrival of the shunks finished that off. They dug out all the nests > as well as destroying all the tern eggs on the beach. We carried > out an active control program on the shunks but they multiplied faster > than my Grandfather could dispense them . Taught me a lot about > predator control if nothing else. His favorite method was to put > a batch of eggs about 30 m from where he could sit. He would > do that for several evening in a row. One evening he would wait and > when the feast was on he would help the celebration > with both barrels of the 12 ga. Much like Canada Day now. > Effective in the short tern but no long term effect. > Anyway we miss the swallows > Paul > > > > From: "g4syth@staff.ednet.ns.ca" <g4syth@staff.ednee them t.ns.ca> > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca; James W. Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> > Cc: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>; Ally (Allison) Manthorne > <amanthorne@bsc-eoc.org>; Mark F Elderkin <elderkmf@gov.ns.ca>; Sherman > Boates <boatesjs@gov.ns.ca> > Sent: Monday, July 15, 2013 9:26:59 AM > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] re ch. swifts vs. swallows et al. -- was Barn > Swallows and Chimney Swifts > > Hi all, > > This is all very interesting, as both barn swallows and chimney swifts > are less numerous than most of us middle and older aged naturalists > remember from our past. > > When I grew up in Greenwich, Kings County NS there were barn swallows > nesting in most of the barns in our community. From the west moving > east: Murray Forsythe's barn had many nests, there were cattle but > this barn is now gone; Richard Forsyth's ( now Harold's ) there were > no cattle but swallows in many of the barns, they disappeared for a > number of years but have returned in smaller numbers; Lewis Legge, now > Stephen Legge, there were nests in all levels of the barn, cattle for > only a few years that I remember, no nests presently; My dad's, George > Forsyth's barn had barn swallows as I grew up, nests on three levels > in some years, we had no livestock, there haven't been nests for > twenty years; Lorna Huston, now Ivan Rafuse, a small modern garage, > had swallow nests, never had livestock, the birds entered under the > roll up door that was left open about four inches, these birds have > gone; Herb Johnson's barn had no livestock, but barn swallow nests on > two levels, this barn is now gone; Rhodes Hennigar's (now Doug), there > has been no livestock for many years, but there is a continuous > healthy population of barn swallows nesting on three levels of an old > barn on the property, there is a source on mud in an area where they > wash vegetables and fill farm machinery with water. > > In all of these cases the barns or garage are of wood construction, > they have openings that are accessible to the birds, even open > doorways, and there is a source of mud. The fact that livestock are > present I don't think is as important, livestock will almost guarantee > that there is mud, but if there is some other reason that mud is > available as at Doug Hennigar's they will still be attracted. > > About twenty years ago I remember poking my head into an abandoned > shed on the lower end of the Stewart Mtn Rd, in Lower Blomidon, there > was a barn swallow nest in this building and the adults swooped and > chattered as I looked inside the building. This was not a building > being used for any purpose by people, and it had not been used for > many years, but this pair of swallows found it attractive! > > I'm sure that the combination of conditions that attract barn swallows > to nest is known to barn swallows and might never be understood by all > of us. I also think that just as some of us find some areas attractive > for our living, and might not be attracted to other places, individual > barn swallow pairs might nest in conditions that are not necessarily > "typical". As important as nesting > is to barn swallow populations their time in Nova Scotia represents > only one quarter of the year, there must be many other impacts on > their population that are not related to nesting. > > In any case there is a relaxing pleasure in seeing barn swallows > swooping and coursing a lawn, hay field or pasture on a sunny summer > day, we should all be jealous of the freedom as they reel, in seeming > abandon, countering gravity as we are bound to our lawn chairs! > > > George E. Forsyth > > > Quoting "James W. Wolford" <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>: > >> Regarding the chimney swift, the history is a bit complex and of >> course the mathematics of this is/are unknown. Remember that before >> North Americans/Europeans built chimneys to which the swif