Love Hate Relationship
Although the legendary swallows which return to the Mission San Juan Capistrano in California each year are cliff swallows, we are lucky to have the return of Barn Swallows here in Big Spring. “Lucky!” Some may disagree if they are in the flight path or their front door is the nesting area for these fast flying birds. Yes, there is a love hate relationship with these dive bombers.
Originally these birds nested in caves or on cliffs (like the Cliff Swallow of Capistrano) but Barn Swallows have adapted to nesting near people. Often their mud nests are in barns, garages, or a protected ledge right above a front door. A Barn Swallow nest above the door is a sign of good luck. However, they can be viewed as a nuisance as they keep their nest tidy by dropping waste over the side onto your welcome mat below. Their construction methods might also be sloppy. Their basic building material is mud. They prefer to build under some sort of overhang that provides protection from the sun and the rain. The nest is a cup of mud pellets lined with grass and feathers and the only time you might see a Barn Swallow on the ground is when they are gathering their nesting materials. Their cousin the Cliff Swallow create a bag shape nest on the side of structures. Peak nesting usually occurs in April and May in Texas with both the male and female quickly creating the nest. Some people swear the nests appear overnight!
Barn Swallows often return to the same nest the next year cleaning out the old nest and making repairs. The female lays 3 to 8 eggs about one to three days after the nest is done. The eggs hatch in about 16 days and the young can soon be seen peeking over the edge. Barn Swallows eat and feed their young flying insects they catch as they swoop through the air. They often follow cattle herds, farm implements, humans walking through grass or working on the lawns because all stir up insects that the swallows love. Flies of all types make up most of the Barn Swallow's diet along with beetles, wasps, flying ants or termites, moths, butterflies and of course the mosquito. In my opinion they can have all the mosquitoes and flies they want! According to the Bird Note Organization a Barn Swallow can consume 60 insects per hour or a whopping 850 a day. The male and female might have two broods a season taking turns feeding and then teaching the young how to catch insects in flight. In August the swallows will begin to migrate south to Central and South America.
Removing the nest during the winter will not keep the swallows from returning. Some people knock down the nests before the swallows have completed them in the spring however this has to be done before their eggs are laid because once their eggs are laid it is illegal to interfere during the nesting cycle. One trick is to hang something shiny and mobile in places you don't wish for the swallows to nest. You can encourage the swallows to nest in certain areas by putting up an artificial nest which can be purchased online or if you are handy create one with the help of Youtube tutorials. If you are lucky enough to have a barn swallow eating flies and mosquitoes in your area, please remember they move on every year so share the out of doors.
Sharing the outdoors with the creatures of the sky also includes the farmer or rancher in this love hate relationship. Most farmers are aware of raptors scanning for prey as they soar, hunting from a perch or following in the wake of the tractor to scoop up pest rodents and insects that are disturbed. One might wonder why woodpeckers and other songbirds are present in their walnut and apple orchards (studies show a reduction by birds of 41-97% of codling moth), why sparrows and other songbirds are in their alfalfa fields (the birds reduce alfalfa weevils by 33%), and if those aerial insectivores above the farm—the Barn Swallows—are eating crop pest insects (pests can be 18% of their diet). There are tools now that use DNA analyses and statistical models to make more sense of how beneficial some birds can be. Compelling on-farm research done over the years has reported 220 bird species in North America consuming agricultural farm pests, which makes a great case for why farmers should take a second look at birds flying by and encourage them to stop and feed on crop pests.(1) Of course, the farmer has the love hate relationship of pest control versus the birds eating the crops they are helping to protect from insects and rodents. The agricultural producers can provide support for birds in the form of artificial nesting, perches or platforms, clean water, annual sunflowers or sorghum and cover such as brush piles like the ones favored by quail for protection. Just as the Barn Swallows and other creatures have adapted over time to the changing environment, the farmers and ranchers adapt their practices to conserves the natural resources of our world.