Saturday 4 June 2016

Swallows in the Kitchen and Putting up Swift Boxes


When we converted our barn to our home, we forgot to tell the local swallows. Not that swallows have ever nested in the barn (they're well catered for in the old barns along the lane) but they do like to play around it. They have aerial games of catch just above it, where one drops a feather and another one picks it up (the adults play at this when they first arrive back here in the spring). And over the years, the swallows have also liked to investigate the barn by swooping in and out of it.

But now the barn is a house, there can't be any more playing in there!


The newly arrived swallows haven't realised this, of course - and twice recently a playing pair have flown right inside when the kitchen door has been wide open. The last time this happened, I was gardening just outside and the birds flew straight over my head and into the kitchen. In folklore, a swallow in the house means 'joy'. Well, that may be so, but I only saw chaos! The two birds flew around chattering and trying to find their way out. One found managed it quickly, but I had to rescue the other one.


I held the bird for a moment before releasing it. It's incredible to think that not long before it had just flown all the way back from Africa. What a wonderful little creature it is.


I'd love to have swallows nesting on the smallholding, but as they seem happy with various sites around here I believe it's other birds that need the help - like the returning swifts. Increasingly, old houses with eaves where they can nest are being pulled down - and these are being replaced with new (ironically) environmentally friendly houses that don't accommodate them. And even in the older houses, local householders are putting up wires and nets to prevent birds nesting there.


In the past, people were obviously far more relaxed about living with birds nesting in their roof. Gilbert White, the eighteenth century naturalist wrote in 1778 of his village in Hampshire:

"The swallows and martins are so numerous and so widely distributed over the village, that it is hardly possible to count them; while the swifts....about half of which reside in the church, and the rest build in some of the lowest and meanest thatched cottages."

It seems that even ordinary folk in their humble cottages accepted these birds in the roof.

Spotting house martins nesting last year on a murky day in Cornwall
My local community's attitude to birds' nests and houses has only recently changed. I remember as a child house martins nesting next door and sparrows nesting under our roof. But I don't know of any house martins nesting around me now, despite living in a village full of old buildings - and I only know of two buildings in this area where swifts are nesting (one of these is a church, the other the old, converted workhouse building).

So to help the swifts, I've put up some nest boxes on our house.


To tempt them in, I've been advised to play a CD of swift calls because swifts like to nest where other swifts are already nesting. I wasn't sure about playing this, but it's actually very soothing to listen to - a bit like listening to a recording of the dawn chorus. I play it from the bedroom window in a short burst on fine evenings and passing swifts coming in from the fields do seem interested.  High up in the sky, they fly around for a bit when it's playing (this makes me feel like a sort of  Pied Piper.) I won't tempt swifts to change nest sites (they are very loyal to their sites) but I hope to interest those who are looking for somewhere new to nest, particularly young swifts looking for next year. These amazing birds will remember potential nest sites when they come back from Africa in the spring.

Hopefully with Swifts nesting at home I'll manage better photos of them!
On the other side of the house, we've put up nest boxes for sparrows. We only have a couple of sparrows here in the lane, and I hope that providing a nest site will help increase their number.  But this year the sparrows haven't nested there. Instead, they've been commandeered by something else altogether..


We have lots of blue tit boxes here, but obviously this pair found the sparrow box much more desirable. The young must be ready to fledge because they're at that noisy (and inquisitive) stage where they keep sticking their heads out the nest hole.

But next year, hopefully, the sparrows will find the box instead.

40 comments:

  1. I love the sound of swifts - I do hope that you will get some nesting in your boxes eventually. We have lots of swallows around here as there are some open barns and derelict buildings, but house martins prefer the village under the eaves of various buildings, and I've no idea where swifts nest, though we see them over the garden. And there are always lots of everything swooping about the church! Funny that the blue tits have taken a liking to your sparrow box. Great photos!

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    1. I've always loved watching and listening to swifts and I'll be very disappointed if they don't nest in the boxes. We have so few house martins here, I don't think I've seen any in my local village.

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  2. I'll be interested to see if the swallows keep flying in your kitchen door. I imagine it will take them some time to figure out that you've taken over their playground. Our swallow couple kept pestering our bluebirds, so we put up an additional house and the swallows almost immediately took up residence. I love watching (and listening to) them. Acrobatic and melodious. I hope some swifts find their way to your boxes--this year or next.

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    1. I did enjoy your post about the swallow and the bluebirds. It is fascinating to see the birds you have (like your swallows) that are distant cousins of the birds we have here. Arobatic and melodious is a lovely description of these amazing birds.

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  3. How lovely to have such a wonderful close up view of this one of my favourite birds - you were lucky. Hope that you get some Swifts in your smart boxes.
    When we lived in Northumberland we had House Martins nesting all along the back of our house who returned every year. They make a huge mess down below so I placed old newspapers held down by bricks to catch it, much to the amusement of my neighbour. However, at the end of the season we just emptied it all into the composter but she had to remove hers with a pick and axe because it had turned hard like concrete!!!

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    1. How wonderful to have house martins nesting and your story shows that the downside of having them around (any mess) can be managed so it's not a problem! I'm sure the thought of mess has to be one of the main reasons people are put off by having these birds nest in their roof. It's such a shame to see these birds decline because of that concern.

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  4. We do have swifts swallows and martins in the village but they seem to prefer the other end to ours. For years we had martins nesting in the eaves but they seem to have deserted us now, or they didn't make it back. I love to see and hear them whizzing about and always look forward to their return. The sparrows nest in the ivy that covers the house, messy little devils they are too, but hey you can 't have everything.

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    1. As I replied to Rosemary it is a real shame that some people want everything so immaculate that there is no room for wildlife. I completely agree with you - we can't have everything and I'd rather be surrounded by wildlife than live in a place where it didn't exist

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  5. A beautiful post. Barn swallows in Canada are designated a threatened species. No specific cause has to this date been confirmed although I suspect habitat loss is part of it. I miss seeing them. Our centuries old farmhouse in Suffolk had generations of families returning without fail.

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    1. Thanks Susan. That it interesting about your swallows in Canada and I'm sorry to hear they're in trouble. An old farmhouse would be ideal for a swallow. It is one the real pleasures of spring seeing the first swallows arrive.

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  6. They are amazing little birds Wendy. Its great that you are putting up boxes. If a few more people did that.

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    1. Thanks Roy. I know members of Swift Conservation are raising awareness of swift boxes through talks, so hopefully more people will be encouraged to put boxes up on their homes.

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  7. That's a great idea putting up swift boxes. We have them in Romsey (3 miles away) but not at home. Swallows are one of my favourite birds, I raised one when I was ten and it was a magical experience. Our sparrow house is used by the great tits every summer, while the sparrows nest in a hole they've made in the roof :-). I shall be v interested in how you get on with the swifts.

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    1. I imagine it was magical raising a swallow. I loved holding the birds that flew into our house - and that was just for a brief moment. It felt very special observing it so closely.
      From your experience, I wonder if sparrows will ever nest in our box - or whether the blue tits or great tits will always get in first!

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  8. What a great shot of the swallow. The first couple of years we had house martins nesting just under the thatch, but haven't seen them recently. What we do seem to have, everywhere it would appear, are wrens. Quite brave ones too that spend a lot of time out in the open, great fun to watch. Challenging to capture in a photograph though, I've not even tried.

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    1. Wrens are such enchanting little birds and it's lovely to hear that you have so many where you are. We had one building a nest in the chicken house this year - not a good idea. Fortunately it was never occupied.
      Just to add I did enjoy your last post but wasn't able to leave a comment either.

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  9. He is beautiful, very special to get so close. We had swallows nesting in the wheelhouse when we were building it. We stopped work until the chicks had hatched and gone, luckily we had moved by the next year before they came back xxxx

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    1. I imagine you have many swallows and swifts where you are, Fran. Everything stops for nests, doesn't it? One year a wagtail nested in the tractor and we couldn't use it until the little birds fledged!

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  10. House Martins nest round here, we see the swallows swooping across the fields, but haven't seen them nesting nearby. We also have a Hobby that comes and helps himself to the house martins! I'm sure your swallows will soon realise that their former playhouse is now "out of bounds"!

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    1. I often see a hobby here - usually the swallows alert me to it flying overhead! I've watched a hobby swoop on dragonflies but I hope it doesn't go for any swallows or swifts here. I've still not seen any house martins around me, although I heard yesterday they may be nesting at the other side of the village.

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  11. How wonderful to hold the swallow for a few seconds, I love to watch them swooping and diving over the fields and also over the lake where we walk. House Martins used to nest in the eves of the house over my bedroom window in the house I grew up in. I could stand in the window and watch them flying towards the glass then at the last minute diverting upwards and into their nests. I was always afraid they would hit the glass but they never did:)

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    1. The adult swallows, swifts and martins are amazing at flying around buildings. I've only ever had one swallow fly into a window of the barn (about three years ago) It lay stunned on the ground for a moment before suddenly stirring and flying off again as if nothing had happened.

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  12. I always love readings your blog. I love birds and actually getting to hold a wild one is magical. I once rescued a female chaffinch from a net curtain in a neighbour's shed and she had got herself into such a state that when I got her out her heart was beating fit to bust and I thought she would die in my hand. So I cupped her in both and after a couple of minutes she calmed right down and when I lifted away one hand, nestled into the other for a few seconds before suddenly taking off. In that time I got to see how beautiful she was. She flew away with such joy I was quite overcome.

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    1. Hello and thanks for visiting! What a lovely story about the chaffinch. I'm so pleased you were able to rescue it and I completely agree about releasing a little bird from your hands. It is such wonderful moment to see it fly off safely.

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  13. A wonderful post and photos Wendy - such an interesting read and such a great idea to put up the nest boxes. I do hope the swifts find them. We've never had House Martins here but we did used to get swifts and they still occasionally "scream" round the house. We still have spaces in the roof where house sparrows nest (and a few years back Tree Bumble Bees!! :) ). It is so sad, as you say, the way nesting sites on houses have disappeared :(

    Thanks so much for your interesting and useful comments about bee swarms on my last post :)

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    1. Thanks Caroline. I've been told it can take three years for the swifts to find the boxes so I may have to be patient! That is great to hear that you get swifts around your house. The swifts here never fly as low as the swallows do around our house, although they are flying lower now because of the CD.
      I've lived with house sparrows for so long nesting in the roof in different houses that it does seem strange not to have them around here at all. And no tree bumblebees here yet - but I wouldn't be surprised to see them!

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  14. Those boxes look perfect homes. I hope the swifts will soon find them. The are so wonderful to watch. Sarah x

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    1. I love to see them fly around screaming. I've stood under dozens of them wheeling around to catch flies, they have an amazing agility in the air.

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  15. Oh....what a fab post! I just loved the close up of the swallow in your hand! Birds do remember sites and playing grounds. We had an extension built many moons ago and a pair of greenfinches hammered at the new windows relentlessly, year in, year out. Obviously it was their old nesting site. It's such a shame how many nesting sites are disappearing, we always walked to a pub to see the house martins nesting under the eaves, then a new landlord took over and removed all the nests as fast as they were built....awful!I do hope you attract swifts into those boxes, and just loved the blue tit chick in the potential sparrow box....how interesting to hear how swallows play with feathers!!! That's a first for me!xxx

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    1. What memories these little creatures must have! To fly across the world and then come back to the same place is incredible. And the birds that don't travel far, like your greenfinches, have the ability to remember their exact nesting sites, too. This is why I do get furious at people who destroy their nests as the landlord did.
      It is enjoyable watching the swallows playing with the feathers. If they had young with them I would have thought they were teaching them to catch flies, but as these are all adults it must be just for the fun of it! Thanks Dina.

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    2. Ahh, just for fun....that's lovely, I suppose when creatures have food, water and shelter, they can play, just like us, after all, we are just intelligent mammals. I see lots of playing with lifer birds in the rescue, but still loved your swallows playing for the joy of it, puts things into an entirely different perspective. I'll be telling everyone in wildlife about swallows catching feathers! So glad you told us all.xxx

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    3. Swallows travel so far on migration, I wouldn't be surprised if their behaviour changes once they reach their summer residence. Perhaps, for a short while before nesting and raising young, they allow themselves the chance to simply play!

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  16. Lovely post, Swifts remind me of home, late summer next to the river and Swallows swooping round the meadow.
    This week I has Swift flying as low as the bathroom window a joy to watch.
    Amanda xx

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    1. The swifts and swallows are such a joy to see and there's something about watching them on a sunny, summer's day, too. I always feel that summer is coming to an end when the swift's leave.

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  17. What a beautiful experience it is,to hold life in your hands.
    John.

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  18. Isn't early summer wonderful? I miss the swallows when they leave, so I make sure I enjoy watching their antics every day. I love the way that wildlife never reads the label and so often chooses to live in an entirely different location from its purpose-built home. I do hope you get swifts in those swift boxes. Keep playing that CD!

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    1. I completely agree about early summer and missing the swallows in September. It is sad to see them gather in the autumn ready to fly off. The CD hasn't been on as much as it should, apparently swifts aren't interested in looking for homes when the weather's wet and it's been so wet here in the evenings recently.

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  19. Hi Wendy just came across your blog as I was searching for information on Swifts. I too have put up two nest boxes for them have had some interest advice is that it can take a while but must persevere. I live in West Yorkshire

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    1. Hello Elizabeth, thanks for visiting and letting me know about your own swift boxes. It seems like the general advice is that it'll take some time. I wonder if the interest will come from young swifts looking for a 'first time' nest next year (swifts that have remembered the boxes from this year).
      I hope you get swifts soon, too. It's great to hear about other boxes going up to help these wonderful birds.

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