The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › Community Forum › Barn Swallow Nesting

    • Jim
      Participant
      Chirps: 7
      Hello all - I'm trying to determine if there's a territorial dispute going on in my barn, or if it's just a pair of mixed up Barn Swallows.  For the past 5 or so years, a pair of Barn Swallows has faithfully returned to the goat stall in our barn, refurbished their mud-pellet nest, and raised a couple of broods.  This year, they returned on schedule, and they are in and our of the stall, but there is something odd going on.  There has been no noticeable work on the nest, but instead there has been intermittent construction of a nest using hay, straw and grass.  It's in the vicinity of the old mud nest, but not in it.  We also have a rather large colony of wrens, finches, sparrows, etc. , and I was initially thinking it was one of them trying to horn in on the Swallow territory, so I removed the new construction several times, but it keeps reappearing.  So my question is, do Barn Swallows ever makes nests out of hay, straw, grass, etc., and does the image below look like anything a Barn Swallow would make?  I should note that we've had an extremely dry spring, so they may be having trouble finding moisture to make mud, but we also have horse troughs, water buckets and a bird bath nearby for sources of water.  Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Jim BirdNest
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    • Matthew
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      Hi Jim, This would probably be a House Finch nesting. A robin nest would be too large for the size of the nest in your photo, but also, Barn Swallows have to glue their nest onto something, whether it is dry or not. Do you have House Finches in your backyard?
      • Jim
        Participant
        Chirps: 7
        Hi Matthew, Yes, we do, and in fact, I have noticed an uptick in their population around our place this year....could be that they've discovered that my wife crumbles up a stack of Ritz crackers every morning and throws it out on our deck, in addition to the two bird feeders we keep well stocked.  Do you think Barn Swallows and House Finches would tolerate each other in close proximity, or will the Finches win out?  That would be a shame after all this time of having the swallows.
      • Matthew
        Participant
        Chirps: 6

        @Jim How about just letting them nest for this year. Then when fall approaches, remove the finch nest and clean the platform over the winter. This would be a very unlikely but attemptable solution for next year. Though finches don't normally nest in nesting boxes, there is a chance they would if you put one out for them. There is an article about this in Nestwatch: https://nestwatch.org/connect/blog/nestwatchers-document-rare-use-of-nest-boxes-by-house-finches/ Or, another solution would be setting up a Nest Box just meant for the Barn Swallows.  Read more about it here: Nest Box Instructions: https://nestwatch.org/wp-content/themes/nestwatch/birdhouses/barn-swallow.pdf Nest Box Info: https://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/birds/barn-swallow/

      • Jim
        Participant
        Chirps: 7

        @Matthew Matthew, Yeah, I guess that's what I'll do for this year.  I've removed that nest every day for about a week and a half, and it's rebuilt within a few hours - they are stubborn and industrious little buggers!  It's kind of my fault anyway.  When I put up the shelf for the swallows (they originally were building on top of a light fixture, which I couldn't let happen), I inadvertently left enough space behind one of the ceiling joists that I attached the shelf to for these other guys to work.  I'll let the chips fall where they may for this year, and try and remedy things in the fall.  Thanks for your input and the links. Jim