Just out of curiosity, does anyone else get cliff swallows? We have barn, and house swallows also. But soon the cliff swallows arrive and build on the outside of our barn the neatest mud houses. Our barn is large and white, we plan on painting it red. Does anyone know if that would affect them coming or not? The fish & wildlife service was fasinated that we have them, we're in farm country not by the big lakes here in Michigan. Don't want to lose them just because of color....

-- Suzanne (weir@frontiernet.net), April 26, 2002

Answers

I dont get cliff swallows but barn swallows in my red barn.

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), April 26, 2002.

I get barn swallows in my red barn, too. And bats in the loft. :)

-- Cindy (ilovecajun@aol.com), April 26, 2002.

I dont personelly,, but i know quite a few people around that do,,I dont, because they like more open fields and such,, where,, I have TONS of trees

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 26, 2002.

I get Cliff Swallows in my cliff. I also get some bank swallows along the creek.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), April 26, 2002.

I did not know they were anything differant. We have them .And a red barn! The first year they built their homes by the bazillions under the cement bridge by the end of the driveway. They were cool to watch coming out in big swarms about mosquiyo time! Yes! my kinda birds! But then we had some mild winters and they overpopulated (I amsure they must go south.but the extra bugs, easy weather in fall and spring?)and moved onto me barn. What a mess!You had to run under through the barn door for fear of "falling objects". I am sorry, but we hosed down the mud nests as soon as we saw where this was going, before they had a chance to get eggs in them and realllllllly have a mess! Every night we would do that till most gave up and went away back to the bridge. Then we left them. I am not usually so mean but sheesh, We were horribly overrun.

-- Novina in ND (homespun@stellarnet.com), April 26, 2002.

The answer here is yes. I love watching them scoop water off the pond to make mud. They are indeed, cool birds. We have 5 species of swallow and I love watching all of them. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 26, 2002.

We don't have swallows out here, we have swifts, tho. Love to watch them, wish I could fly like that!

-- kim in CO (kimk61252@hotmail.com), April 28, 2002.

The different color probably won't deter them. I'd think you'd want to paint it asap, as those swallows ought to show up any day now.

A white barn probably won't have shown all that swallow whitewash as much as a red one will. And if they nest above your entryway, etc., sites, you should consider steel mesh (chickenwire, etc.) in those spots.

On the other hand, evey time you see a gob of swallow whitewash, you might want to chant "Well, there go another 79 mosquitoes"!

Up here, there's a nearby (42 miles away) bridge on whose steel beams a colony of cliff swallows nest. Unfortunately for them, our ravens have learned to walk along the beam and batter open those mudgourd nests...fewer and fewer baby swallows each year.

-- Audie (paxtours@alaska.net), April 28, 2002.