i am so happy this year we have barn swallows,lots. will they return year after year? are they only bug eaters? it seems the fly population has dropped could this be true? one more thing how can i encourage more or is there a limit to the amount per area? one down fall i cant lock up tight at night they seem to be very arly risers and fly into the windows.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), June 21, 2000

Answers

We have had them coming back to our place for 20 years. We have 4 nest in the shop where they like to build. You are right you can not lock up at night and they do make a mess under their nest but that's part of it. We just leave their nesy alone and they come back and use the same nest each year. We have even had two hatches in one year Grant

-- Grant Eversoll (thegrange@earthlink.net), June 21, 2000.

Renee, Grant's right, they'll come back if they're happy at your place. A muddy patch, say keep dumping a water bucket in the same spot, will greatly help them build and maintain their nests.

I don't know what the upper limit is on the number of birds in an area. We've got 3 nests in one of the chicken coops, they reuse the nests every year. All in all, we're up to about 2 dozen now. They love lining their nests with goose feathers and down.

They eat tremendous amounts of flying insects, the only downside is waiting up at night for them to go to bed so I can close the chicken coop for those pairs. The coop has a 2 part door, and if I shove the top half in, they can let themselves out in the morning. Once the babies get fairly big and feathered, and the weather's nice, I don't worry if there is an occasional night when I close the coop before the parents go in at night. Ours also generally raise 2 clutches a year. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), June 21, 2000.

We have had our barn swallows since we moved here 21 years ago. They come in mid April and are always gone during our county fair week...mid August, just like clockwork. If we get the barns whitewashed, I wait till they leave. Great bug patrol. And then at dusk the night shift takes over......our little brown bats. There are hundreds of them in the old barn and they coexist with the swallows. Have few bugs here as a result! My one son worked as a volunteer in Guatemala for 3 years. I went to visit him the end of one Qctober. Out in the country I was thrilled to see the barnswallows.I like to imagine some of ours were there!

-- Kate Henderson (sheeplady@catskill.net), June 21, 2000.

I was delighted to see them coming back to the barn this spring then the sparrows followed right behind them and took over their nest. The barnswallows started another and the sparrows abandoned the first nest to take the second. After the third attempt with the same result, the swallows left. They are still in the area and occasionally work the barn. Unfortunately, I have more flies this year than last because they aren't in permanent residence.

I can't for the life of me remember their correct name but we had a family of what are locally called butcher birds visit our garden every evening one summer to hunt bugs. These are the birds that will leave their prey stuck on the barbs of a barbed wire fence. They are a songbird but the only one that stores food on barbs, thorns of plants etc. Now those birds could clear out some garden pests!

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), June 21, 2000.

Shrike is the name for those birds who "store' their prey on barbed wire and thorn bushes,etc.Their preferred food consists of smaller birds,and mice, but they fill in the gap with tons of insects as well.There are two kinds...Loggerhead, which tends to eat more bugs and less birds and mice, and hangs around the lower half of the USA,preferring moderate climates...the Northern Shrike eats many more birds and mice than bugs and lives in most of the Northern States across the country.They are known as "Butcher Birds" pretty much all over....

-- lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), June 21, 2000.

Aren't they wonderful? Be careful of what you spray (if you spray) to control pests, you don't want to poison them.

-- Anne Tower (bbill@wtvl.net), June 22, 2000.

Wonderful HAH!!! We had HUNDREDS of nest all the way around the barn! They would fly out in the evening at just about chore time and you thought you were living in an Alfred Hitchcock movie! I do not exaggerate! Both of the kids got pooped on trying to plant the garden. We spent several nights nocking down nests before they could lay eggs. Most finally gave up and went back to the nearby bridge were they were last year! I don't undrestand how everyone can hate mice so bad, then love these annoying, dirty things that overun the barn en masse!

-- Novina in ND (lamb@stellarnet.com), June 22, 2000.

is it not funny how one animal can provok 2 different feelings? one side a helper and the other a pain in the---. its like mice and rats, what realy is the difference?size but i would take a room of mice over a room of rats.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), June 22, 2000.

I'm with Novina! I love tree swallows, even though they compete with bluebirds here in Maine. I love barn swallows and bats, too, but they violate the laws of physics by creating matter! They may ingest a hundred lbs of nasty bugs, but they extract the nutrients, and excrete 200 lbs of "guano"! I try to seal the barn and provide nesting boxes for both. Works for the barn swallows, but I am getting a little batty with the bats. They ignore my bat houses, prefering an indoor privy! Anyway, GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), June 27, 2000.

Well, now I am confused! My husband was brought up to hate barn swallows on the dairy farm. He and his cousins spent many childhood hours shooting them. Now we have them in our barns and he tears down the nests. And here are so many of you singing their praises. It seems good to me that they eat mosquitos & insects. So, is it good to have barn swallows or not?

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), June 27, 2000.

Jean - they are indeed beneficial, as are most snakes. Question is: Are they beneficial enough to outweigh their ugly side? For me, snakes are. Barn swallows are if I can keep them out of the barn. Bats are probably most beneficial, but I curse them almost every day. They are the best insect eaters, and the most difficult to keep out of the barns. Want to be eaten up by mosquitoes, or cover everything in the barn? God is a strange Woman for having given us these choices. (Hi!, Tracy, Gerbil, Lesley, Karen et al!) The cool stud!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), June 27, 2000.

What is the best way to get rid of barn swallows?

-- Jerry Wright (wine@villatoscano.com), June 20, 2001.

I have a question? My husband works at a golf course and as he was leaving the barn the swallows flew at him and attacked him. He had to fight them off with his hat. Their wings hit his face. WHY

-- Vivian Berends (berends@egl.net), July 22, 2001.

They flew after your husband because he was too near their nest, and he's a predator. Birds are smart, they know the difference. The barn swallows dive-bomb humans,dogs, and cats, and totally ignore the rabbits hopping about and the horses grazing right alongside.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), July 23, 2001.