We always have had an abundant barn swallow population around here, but man, they've been wild as of late. I truly appreciate the enormous amount of insects they eat, and I shudder to think what it'd be like around here without them. However, lately they come swooping down so low by my head that I panic that they're actually AFTER ME (or is it just my ridiculous floral pony tail holder?)! I've never heard of anyone getting beaned accidently by a swallow, so I guess I'll just go about my business and hope they use their finely-tuned navigational instincts to steer clear of my noggin!
Here's a little interesting info. I found about them on birds.com:
A familiar inhabitant of barns and other outbuildings, the Barn Swallow is easily recognized by its long forked tail. It was originally a cave breeder, but now the swallow nests almost exclusively on man-made structures.
Description
Small slender songbird.
Tail long and forked.
Upperparts steely iridescent blue.
Underparts rufous.
Size: 15-19 cm (6-7 in)
Wingspan: 29-32 cm (11-13 in)
Song: a twittery series of squeaky notes, often with dry rattle in the middle.
Cool Facts
-The Barn Swallow is the most abundant and widely distributed swallow species in the world. It breeds throughout the northern hemisphere and winters in much of the southern hemisphere.
-The long tail of a Barn Swallow may indicate the quality of the individual bird. Females prefer to mate with males that have the longest and most symmetrical tails.
-An unmated male Barn Swallow may kill the nestlings of a nesting pair. His actions often succeed in breaking up the pair and afford him the opportunity to mate with the female.
That last part sounds like it belongs on a talk show! Naughty males!
This post wouldn't be complete without me mentioning one of my favorite Wailin' Jennys songs, Swallow, from their beautiful Firecracker album:
Oh swallow
What did you swallow?
You swoop so low
You come and you go
From Cait - An Update
9 years ago
2 comments:
Hey Alison, I read this a few days ago, and have thought about it since. Our swallows have been gone quite a while now, and I'm so surprised they swooped you. I don't know so much about swallows, but I thought their swooping was earlier in the year. I didn't like to hear about those fellows killing babies. I think that shows thinking, not dumb animals (birds). The detective books would say, malice aforethought.
My husband said that the swallows are just after the bugs I'm stirring up as I walk around the yard - he has many memories of "being attacked" by swallows as a boy cutting the lawn - he used to get so mad at them because he thought they were just after him, but now realizes they just wanted the buzzing wingeds!
Post a Comment