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Barn swallows

 

 

The beautiful late-summer weather lures one outdoors and on roaming around there is always something to notice.

 

Sand martins are our least numerous swallows; most of those who nested here have already started their migration. During a few weeks more we can still meet passing migrants.

 

Somewhere around a hundred thousand pairs of house martins nested in  Estonia this year. Flocks of them can still be seen in action but they too will be gone with the month of September.

 

Barn swallows are not really doing very well – the declining cattlekeeping in farming has forced the insect-eaters to find themselves new living places but there were still more of them nesting than of house martins. The birds that nested here started their journey to the south some weeks ago already but the migration lasts as long still. We will encounter northerly migrants in the beginning of October too but all depends on the weather. The last departing ones may also have grown up in a late clutch and some of them may not have developed the migration urge and they will be doomed to perish, mostly because of famine.

 

Looking at Arne’s photo there is a male bird with a splendid tail on the lower wire – we certainly recognize them among the swallows sitting on the wires. Long tail feathers indicate the strength of the male birds’ immune system; the feathers must also be of evenly long – in case of varying lengths the bird may have parasites or some deficiency in the constitution. Birds with a beautiful tail are usually also better fliers, from this the female birds ”evaluate” a partner in early spring.

 

Barn swallows migratingin daytime and in quite large flocks; nights are spent in reed banks. At the moment they catch flies, various mosquitoes, dragonflies and also butterflies and spiders for food.

 

Sand martin observations: LINK

 

House martin observations: LINK

 

Barn swallow observations: LINK