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Barn Swallow
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Hirundo
Species: rustica
La. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form,
kind, species
La. hirundo a
swallow
La. rusticus rural,
country |
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Six to seven inches long. Dark steel blue almost black head, back, long thin speedy wings
and deeply forked tail with white spots. Rich chestnut forehead, throat and breast.
Light brown underside. Short wide beak.
Almost always inhabits buildings and structures throughout most of
North America and parts of Greenland. Winters in Central and South America.
Builds nests of mud pellets reinforced with grass or straw and lined
with fine grass and feathers attached to ceiling rafters or walls near a ceiling almost
always in open barns or other out buildings, country churches, long covered bridges of New
England, beneath piers or open boat houses, sometimes under eaves. |
| Often returns to old nesting places. Lays three to six speckled white eggs which hatch after about two weeks
incubation and fledglings leave the nest in about another three. Raise two broods.
Adolescents from the first brood remain in the family and help feed the next brood of the
same season. |
Louis Agassiz Fuertes |
They dive at intruders in their barn yards,
snap their beaks and pull away just before making contact, although they adjust to
familiar neighbors.
They feed exclusively on insects caught in graceful aerobatics during nesting season and
also berries in late summer when they gather in large flocks before migrating.The Barn Swallow platform has a narrow
2" by 5 3/4" base, approximately a 6" ceiling, an open front and partially
open sides. |
Mount this platform high inside an
open barn or shed or on the side of a garage, or porch under open
shelter or an eave. Do not mount in a tree. Make sure objects that cats
and squirrels can climb do not provide access to the nest.
Dimensions of this platform are recommended for Barn and Cliff
Swallows by several sources and efforts to attract them with platforms
or modified structures have worked. |
It seems that if Barn Swallows are going to build a nest in a
barn, they can do so just fine without help. Insects and water are
probably greater factors. Then again, who knows? If they nest in an
artificial ledge, then that probably answers the question.Most often
they attach their nest to the side of a ceiling rafter or wall under an
eave, not on a shelf. A roof (where none exists) with or without a shelf
may attract these swallows.
See Platform Discussion
Bruce Horsfall |
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