My neighbors are a little more anal. They don't like them because they leave a pile of bird guano under the nest usually on the patio. They frantically go outside and knock down the patches of mud as the birds come back and back until one or the other gives up.
I leave their nests up from year to year. They happily reclaim their old nests and gather horse hair and twigs to spruce it up. Then, they begin to lay eggs. They swoop and play acrobatic maneuvers that would put seasoned fighter pilots to shame.
Once hatched, the swallow pair sets up an erratic feeding schedule. Off they go into the surrounding yard and pasture and bring back juicy bits of bugs. I suppose that's what they bring back. I have never seen what ever their pablum diet is.
One after another adult bird constantly is coming in for a landing on the nest. The baby birds can be seen opening their mouths in anticipation. The feeding pair keep this up all day long until night time falls and then the nest and all activity ceases.
One side of the nest is attached to the board. The nest is rounded and all the birds that occupy the nest at night time, face inward and their tails hang out over the nest. Hence, their droppings fall to the ground and not into the nest.
As the birds grow in size, they perch on the edge of the nest, waiting for their daily feedings. They open their little beaks wide. They are colorful, little black and yellow lined beaks like perfectly applied lipstick.
Sitting beside the sliding glass door, I can almost constantly watch their flight. Dipping and diving in the yard and toward the nest, they display acrobatic accomplishments that causes you to marvel.
Some years, they can raise 3 sets of eggs/baby birds before they leave for parts unknown.
Like in all high risk sports, they sometimes crash into the sliding glass door and land against it with a loud thud. Survival depends on how hard they hit the door and if there's a cat sitting patiently underneath.
Some times a baby bird tries to launch itself too soon and will find itself on the ground without protection from the cats or the elements. Past efforts to put the bird back into the nest have always failed. The bird either flies back out into the same predicament or the mother doesn't come back to feed it.
In the past, I've tried to feed baby birds but we aren't all cut out for everything. Bird feeding is not in my list of skills. Once you raise them and you think they should be on their own, they don't see it that way and can't survive without your help.
Observing the swallows, I noticed that the baby birds even if they are independent and flying well, still wait for their parents to feed them. They may be sitting on the fence out in the pasture and the parents gather insects and go feed them wherever they are.
It reminds me of human children. They act and sound like they are ready to leave the nest but they still need lots of attention in order to survive.
When it gets toward fall, I always dread my feathered friends departure. Somehow I like to think that the same ones return the next year and remember me fondly.
I sure remember them.
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