It seems to be the general feeling these days that man is malign and nature nothing but benign. Man makes war, but animals don’t. Not true, of course: over the weekend I witnessed nasty barn swallow wars.
The original nest, and mud for the new nest beside it
We always have barn swallow nests in the barn, but sometimes a pair insists upon making a nest in the overhang above the front door to the house. This year that nest was populated with four or five babies, and they were thriving. That is until another pair insisted on starting a nest there as well.
The result: all-out warfare. I noticed the uproar, but didn’t witness the carnage. The casualties were the babies. On Saturday, there was one dead little bird on the ground, and on Sunday two more. I got stepladder out and checked the nest and I saw that one or two babies were left.
I put up some tape that is supposed to scare away birds and left the stepladder in place, but the parents who were trying to feed the survivors were afraid to approach, so I removed all that. I hid where could watch without being noticed and saw the parents successfully flying in to feed the remaining babies.
From this point on, I will interfere and remove the makings the second nest — right now it’s just bits of straw and grass. I know how persistent swallows are, so I’ll have to do it daily until they give up. I don’t know if my efforts will save the one or two young ones left in the first nest, but maybe I can help. Yes, I’m taking sides in this war.
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That is tough Yvonne! It’s always hard to see the rough side of nature. I hope it all worked out and they are doing well.
How amazing – and cruel! I am surprised that they fight like that and hope that you succeed in saving the babies.
Lene