One of farming’s biggest perks is the amount of time we get to spend outdoors just marveling at all the spectacular things that occupy this planet. We’re approaching my favorite time of year for natural wonder–peak firefly season–which overlaps with my second favorite natural event–barn swallow breeding.
Barn swallow nests have been popping up around the property throughout the spring and are now filling up with tiny chicks desperately waiting with mouths open. In the fields, the adult birds put on a spectacular aerial show. diving within inches of the ground to feed on a wide variety of flying insects, especially flies (thanks, barn swallows!). After they finish breeding, they gather in migratory groups for their journey to their winter homes in South America. Not a bad gig, right?
Bonus Barn Swallow Facts:
- Courtship involves aerial chases. On perch, mated pairs sit close together, touch bills, and preen each other’s feathers. They form new pairs each spring, though the same two birds may nest together for several years.
- In North America, both barn swallow parents incubate the eggs and feed the nestlings. However, females provide more parental care than males. During the nestling period, barn swallow parents may feed their chicks up to 400 times per day. Barn swallows feed their chicks a compressed pellet of insects that they carry in their throat.
- Their average lifespan is 4 years.
- Barn swallows forage opportunistically. They have been observed following tractors and plows, catching the insects that are disturbed by the machinery. They drink water by skimming the surface of a body of water while flying.