Barn swallows are brick masons of the bird world
Barn swallows zip through the air in rapid twists and turns at speeds reaching 50 mph. When they make a pit stop, its to plaster mud pellets into their cup-shaped nests.
We may see the nests under freeway overpasses, culverts, bridges and on the eves of building — any vertical structure beneath a sturdy horizontal overhang. They’ll also nest atop ledges beneath overhangs, such as a porch light covered by a gable roof.
They gather hundreds of tiny mud pellets from roadside puddles or along the edges of ponds, creeks and lakes. The birds also gather grasses, mix them with the mud and create a remarkably stable nest plastered to a vertical surface. A male and female may nest as a solitary pair or as part of a nesting colony, like we see under overpasses or bridges.
Barn swallows and cliff and cave swallows are the bird versions of human brick masons. Or, more precisely, like people who once built and still build adobe homes.
The sleek-bodied birds sweep through the air with agility, using their long, swept-backed wings and forked tails. But they’re not flying for the fun of it.
Instead, they’re gobbling up scores of insects, such as flies, beetles, wasps, bees, flying ants, dragonflies and damselflies. Sorry to say, mosquitoes usually stay out of reach by buzzing close to the ground, where we walk, instead of up high where swallows fly.
The birds drink by flying just above the surface of a pond or other water source and scooping up water in their flat-shaped beaks. When perched on a nearby power line, they reveal stunning plumage of royal blue on the backs, brick-red throats and fawn-colored underparts.
And they sing from their perches. Stand nearby or roll down the car window to hear their high-pitched warbling tunes that sound like variations of “twitter-twitter-twitter.”
Barn swallows migrate here from winter homes in Latin America, with the majority probably arriving from South America, including the Galapagos Islands. The birds are also cosmopolitan, living in every part of the world — except Hawaii and Antarctica.
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle studied the swallows to determine where they went for the winter. He concluded that the birds hibernated in tree holes or other crevices — but actually, the birds were migrating to Africa or southern Asia. Oh well, we can’t all be right.