DOCSLIB.ORG

Responses of Barn Swallows to Eggs, Young, Nests, and Nest Sites

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Responses of Barn Swallows to Eggs, Young, Nests, and Nest Sites Condor, 81236~246 0 The Cooper Ornithological Society 1979 RESPONSES OF BARN SWALLOWS TO EGGS, YOUNG, NESTS, AND NEST SITES JOSEPH A. GRZYBOWSKI Aspects of egg, young, nest and nest site gentutus) nests moved about 30 cm were recognition have been investigated or ob- accepted if they contained eggs and the served in several species of birds (e.g., Cul- original nest site was covered with sand len 1957, Davies and Carrick 1962, Beer (Tinbergen 1953). In experiments with 1969, Peek et al. 1972). In general, selection Sooty Terns (Sternufuscutu), birds returned appears to favor recognition of as few char- to their nest sites rather than to nests dis- acteristics as necessary to insure a high placed short distances (Lashley 1915). From probability of caring for the correct eggs or these studies, it appears that selection fa- young. Birds that build nests respond to vors more rigid responses to changes in nest their nest sites, and later their young (usu- and nest site for colonial than for non-colo- ally when mobile), but show little evidence nial species. of specifically recognizing their own nests In the present study, I evaluated re- or eggs (Nice 1943, Tinbergen 1953, Beer sponses of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) 1970). Common Murres (Uris aalge; John- to their eggs, young, nests, and nest sites. son 1941, Tschanz 1959), which do not Barn Swallows are facultative colonial nest- build nests, and Royal Terns (Sterna maxi- ers and unique among the above species in ma; Buckley and Buckley 1972), which nest that their colonies are passive aggregations in dense colonies where their eggs may be of birds (Snapp 1976). Barn Swallows have displaced, recognize both their eggs and recently used man-made structures for nest- laying sites. ing (Bent 1942), and such behavior may in- Among passerines, Rothstein (1975) found fluence the size of their aggregations. Do that some species (“rejector species”) can swallows respond to aspects of the nesting recognize foreign eggs placed in their nests, situation in the same way as colonial or non- while others (“acceptor species”) do not. colonial species? Bank Swallows (Riparia rip&a; Hoogland and Sherman 1976), Red-winged Blackbirds METHODS (Ageluius phoeniceus; Peek et al. 1972), and Carrion Crows (Corvus corone; Yom-Tov This study was conducted in southern and central Oklahoma during June and July of 1974, 1975 and 1976) do not discern their eggs, or their 1977. Swallow colonies were located in rectangular young until near fledging, at an age when cement culverts under heavy-duty roads. In 1974, two an “error” in progeny care is possible. Tri- culverts were used for the behavioral part of the study; colored Blackbirds (Ageluius tricolor), which one about 2.5 km southwest of Madill, Marshall County (left culvert in Fig. l), and one under State Highway nest in dense colonies, accept eggs or young 99 adjacent to Lake Texoma, Marshall County. The in- placed in their nests (Emlen 1941). Many side culvert dimensions were 183 cm (height) x 244 non-passerines are similar in their varied cm x 25.2 m (excluding triangular corner; see Fig. 1) ability to recognize their eggs or young and 213 cm x 152 cm x 48.0 m, respectively. In 1975 (Tinbergen 1953, Davies and Carrick 1962, and 1977, a culvert under State Highway 9 near Lake Thunderbird, Cleveland County, was used. It mea- Beer 1970). sured 183 cm x 183 cm x 49.6 m. Nests in culverts Red-winged Blackbirds recognize their were numbered sequentially, whether in use or not, nest sites specifically, but accept substitute and their locations described in relation to: (1) distance nests (Peek et al. 1972). Nero and Emlen from the entrance of culvert and/or nearest nest(s); and (2) shortest distance from outer lip of nest to ceiling of (1951) found that female Red-winged Black- culvert. birds would follow displaced nests even Mist nets were placed on the ends of the culverts, across territorial boundaries of males. Meise opened at night, and checked at sunrise. Captured (1933) moved the nest of a House Sparrow birds were banded and adults were marked with paint. (Passer domesticus) 1.5 m and observed no All males were marked conspicuously on the back with light blue. Females were painted so as to be individ- response to it by the adults. Among non-pas- ually recognizable by using a variety of colors (other serines, a Coopers’ Hawk (Accipiter coop- than light blue) on various parts of the body including erii) nest moved in small increments from left wing, right wing, back of neck, throat and rump. its original location in the crotch of a tall The paint did not appear to impair any individual, and paint-marked birds were captured in successive years. tree to a bushel basket, and then to the Sex was determined by measuring tail and wing chord ground, was accepted at each step by the lengths (Wood 1969), and by the presence or absence adults (Allen 1951). Herring Gull (Lurus ar- of a brood patch. 12361 BARN SWALLOW NESTING BEHAVIOR 237 ” .5 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5,5 6.5 15 >8 METERS FIGURE 1. Nesting site of Barn Swallows in culverts FIGURE 2. Frequency distribution of distances be- under heavy-duty road near Madill, Marshall County, tween nests of Barn Swallows nesting in culverts (mea- Oklahoma. There were 17 active nests in culvert on sured to nearest cm). The white bars refer to distances left and 4 active nests in culvert on right. Note closed between all adjacent nest pairs (N = 137) while the mist-nets at entrance of culvert. shaded bars indicate distances between active nests (N = 84). I watched the birds, with the aid of 7 x 35 binocu- lars, from an automobile or burlap blind positioned the nest was 58 cm below the ceiling. The near the entrance of the culvert. A small mirror was mean distance between nests, for I37 adja- used to shine light into the culvert to confirm the iden- tity of birds sitting on nests. Marked birds were cent nest pairs in 11 culverts, was 2.79 m watched as they entered the culvert and went to their (SD = 2.27 m). Mean distances between 84 respective nests. After nests were identified with in- occupied nest pairs (i.e., nests with eggs or dividually-marked birds, I initiated the experiments. young) was 3.66 m (SD = 3.12 m). The latter Often, only the female using a particular nest was marked, but in no case did two birds identified as fe- represents a maximal value because young male use the same nest. may have recently fledged from “unoccu- Experimentation involved: (1) moving nests horizon- pied” nests located between the occupied tally or vertically from their original location; (2) add- ones. Frequency distributions, converted to ing nests; (3) removing nests; and (4) switching nests, proportion of total, were prepared for dis- and/or eggs and young. Nests to be moved were care- fully pried off the wall and reattached by laying down tances between nests of both data sets and an adhesive mud base to the new location and pressing are shown in Figure 2. With one exception, the moistened back of the nest onto the new location. the lowest distance between occupied nests Details of each manipulation are given in the results. was 0.73 m. Barn Swallows maintain some I observed the responses of Barn Swallows for at least 0.5 h after each manipulation. Observations were minimum distance between nests, but 60% extended up to 1.5 h in cases when the final response of the occupied nests were spaced less than was in doubt. The responses to nests (or nest sites) 3 m apart. were assigned to one of four categories: (1) no re- sponse-when a swallow appeared to ignore the nest RESPONSE TO EGGS (or nest site); (2) not accepted-when a swallow inves- tigated the nest (or nest site) by hovering in front of it, I evaluated whether or not Barn Swallows but did not land (occasionally, a swallow in this cate- are able to: discern their own eggs from oth- gory actually touched a nest, but did not perch); (3) er Barn Swallow eggs; distinguish Barn weak response-when a swallow attempted to incu- Swallow eggs from eggs of other species; bate or feed young (or perched at nest site), but re- jected these nests (or nest sites) during the observation and/or distinguish eggs from other objects. period (a swallow who sporadically fed young in a nest To test if females could distinguish their was placed in this category); and (4) accepted-when eggs from other Barn Swallow eggs, several a swallow continuously performed incubation or feed- manipulations were performed. When ing activities at a nest without apparent hesitation or clutches with identical numbers of eggs distress. Often, swallows in this category initially ex- hibited hesitation or distress when exposed to the ma- were substituted for the original eggs, fe- nipulated situation. males accepted the new set in all eight cases tested. In two of these, both the eggs RESULTS and nest were replaced. In two other in- In south-central Oklahoma, Barn Swallows stances, a females’ nest and eggs were re- placed their nests linearly on the wall just moved and replaced by two new nests im- below the ceiling of the culvert. The outer mediately ladjacent to the original location; lips of the nests were located 4 to 6 cm be- one of the nests contained her own eggs low the ceiling, except for one case where while the other included a clutch with the 238 JOSEPH A.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Barn Swallows AKA: Mud Swallows
    Barn Swallows AKA: Mud Swallows. Close relatives: Purple Martin, Cliff Swallow, Tree Swallow Scientific Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Aves, Passeriformes, Hirundinidae; Hirundo; H. rustica. Bird Size & Markings: Adult Barn Swallows are about 7” long, stand 4” high and have a 13” wingspan. They weigh less than 1 ounce. Males have metallic blue back, wings, and tail with rufous to tawny underside. The blue crown and face is contrasted with the cinnamon forehead and throat. Females are not as brightly colored. Habitat: You can find Barn Swallows feeding in open habitats such as fields, parks, marshes, meadows, ponds, and coastal waters. Their nests are often easy to spot under protected overhangs. Nesting/Dens: Barn Swallows lay 3 to 7 eggs in each brood and can hatch broods twice a year. Brood fledge in about 2 weeks. Both sexes construct the nest of mud pel- lets. If attached to a wall or beam, the nest is half-cup shaped. If on top of a surface, A mating pair of Barn Swallows. They prefer to the nest forms a perfect small cup about 3” wide. Nest sites are almost exclusively at- build their nests where there is overhead pro- tached to man made structures with overhead protection; roof eaves, the underside tection from the weather. of bridges, inside barns and stables, etc. Food: Barn Swallows eat insects - both flying and terrestrial. They usually take rela- tively large, single insects rather than feeding on swarms of smaller prey. They typi- cally feed just above shallow waters or turf. They have been known to follow tractors and livestock, eating the insects that are flushed out by their movement.
    [Show full text]
  • Aves: Hirundinidae)
    1 2 Received Date : 19-Jun-2016 3 Revised Date : 14-Oct-2016 4 Accepted Date : 19-Oct-2016 5 Article type : Original Research 6 7 8 Convergent evolution in social swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae) 9 Running Title: Social swallows are morphologically convergent 10 Authors: Allison E. Johnson1*, Jonathan S. Mitchell2, Mary Bomberger Brown3 11 Affiliations: 12 1Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago 13 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan 14 3 School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska 15 Contact: 16 Allison E. Johnson*, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, 17 Chicago, IL 60637, phone: 773-702-3070, email: [email protected] 18 Jonathan S. Mitchell, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 19 Ruthven Museums Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, email: [email protected] 20 Mary Bomberger Brown, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Hardin Hall, 3310 21 Holdrege Street, Lincoln, NE 68583, phone: 402-472-8878, email: [email protected] 22 23 *Corresponding author. 24 Data archiving: Social and morphological data and R code utilized for data analysis have been 25 submitted as supplementary material associated with this manuscript. 26 27 Abstract: BehavioralAuthor Manuscript shifts can initiate morphological evolution by pushing lineages into new adaptive 28 zones. This has primarily been examined in ecological behaviors, such as foraging, but social behaviors 29 may also alter morphology. Swallows and martins (Hirundinidae) are aerial insectivores that exhibit a This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record.
    [Show full text]
  • MADAGASCAR: the Wonders of the “8Th Continent” a Tropical Birding Set Departure
    MADAGASCAR: The Wonders of the “8th Continent” A Tropical Birding Set Departure November 3—28, 2013 Guide: Ken Behrens All photos taken during this trip. All photos by Ken Behrens unless noted otherwise. TOUR SUMMARY Madagascar has long been a core destination for Tropical Birding, and with last year’s opening of a satellite office in the country, we have further solidified our expertise in the “Eighth Continent.” This was another highly successful set-departure tour to this special island. It included both the Northwestern Endemics Pre-Trip at the start and the Helmet Vanga extension to the Masoala Peninsula at the end. Although Madagascar poses some logistical challenges, especially in the form of the national airline Air Madagascar, we had no problems on this tour, not even a single delayed flight! The birding was great, with 196 species recorded, including almost all of the island’s endemic birds. As usual, the highlight was seeing all five of the incredible ground-rollers, from the roadrunner-like Long-tailed of the spiny forest to the wonderful rainforest-dwelling Scaly. There was a strong cast of vangas, including Helmet, Bernier’s, and Sickle-billed. In fact, we saw every member of the family save the mysterious Red-tailed Newtonia which is only regularly seen in the far south. As normal, the couas were also a favorite. From the shy and beautiful Red-breasted of Madagascar Set Departure Tour Nov. 3-28, 2013 the eastern rainforest to the huge Giant Coua of the dry western forest, we were looking for and at couas virtually every day! The bizarre mesites form a Malagasy endemic family, and we had superb extended views of all three members of the family.
    [Show full text]
  • Breeding Biology of Asian House Martin Delichon Dasypus in a High-Elevation Area
    FORKTAIL 28 (2012): 62–66 Breeding biology of Asian House Martin Delichon dasypus in a high-elevation area ZHIXIN ZHOU, YUE SUN, LU DONG, CANWEI XIA, HUW LLOYD & YANYUN ZHANG We present data on the breeding biology of the largest known colony of Asian House Martin Delichon dasypus, located in the Jiangxi Wuyishan Nature Reserve at 2,158 m in the Huanggang Mountains, China. Nest surveys conducted in abandoned buildings in a subalpine meadow during March–August 2007 and 2008 yielded 163 and 132 clutches, from 84 and 82 nests, respectively. Breeding pairs also laid multiple broods and replacement clutches. Average clutch size was 3.0 and 2.6 eggs for first and second broods respectively. Synchronous hatching was detected in 79% of clutches. The proportion of eggs hatching was 0.7 and 0.6 for first and second broods respectively, and the proportion fledging was 0.5 and 0.4 respectively. Nests situated inside buildings were more successful than those situated outside owing to greater protection from severe weather, which was the major cause of breeding failure. Nest losses caused by severe weather were more pronounced later in the breeding season. INTRODUCTION Nest surveys The 3-ha study area is predominately subalpine meadow habitat in Many bird species raise only one brood per year because of a narrow which are situated more than 30 abandoned buildings and garages period of suitable environmental conditions which prohibits that provide suitable nesting substrate for the breeding martins. The multiple breeding attempts (Evans-Ogden & Stutchbury 1996). nest of Asian House Martin is a closed cup typical of hirundines, Others raise multiple broods per breeding season (Verhulst et al.
    [Show full text]
  • TREE SWALLOW Tachycineta Bicolor Tree Swallows Are the Only Swallows to Be Seen All Year in the Sacramento Region
    TREE SWALLOW Tachycineta bicolor Tree swallows are the only swallows to be seen all year in the Sacramento region. A few winter here; others come to join them early in the spring. They are about sparrow-length but slimmer. The male is steel blue on top, white underneath. Tree swallows like wooded areas near streams. They can be seen skimming close to the water scooping up insects. Usually a hole in a tree trunk is chosen for a nest and lined with grass, leaves and feathers. The violet green swallow, a bird with similar colors but with white around the sides of the rump, is found here in warm weather. CLIFF SWALLOW Petrochelidon pyrrhonota Cliff swallows, famous for their annual return to San Juan Capistrano, likewise return to the Sacramento region within a few days of the same date each year. Wherever a bridge or culvert houses a colony of these swallows, the same kind of homecoming takes place each spring. Cliff swallows are identified by their buff foreheads, orange rumps, and square tails. They fly with long sweeping glides and steep climbs, catching flying insects on the wing. The bulb-shaped nests, hung under bridges, highway overpasses and eaves of buildings, are built entirely of mud. Flocks of cliff swallows can be seen around puddles gathering mud in their bills. When disturbed by an intruder or when flying over feeding grounds, the birds utter a squeaky, guttural sound. BARN SWALLOW Hirundo rustica Here is a bird with a real “swallow tail” outfit. In fact, it is our only swallow with a deeply forked tail.
    [Show full text]
  • HIRUNDO RUSTICA RUSTICA at Herschel Island–Qikiqtaruk, Yukon— a BARN SWALLOW Subspecies NEW to Canada CAMERON D
    HIRUNDO RUSTICA RUSTICA AT HERSCHEL ISLand–QIKiqTARUK, YUKOn— A BARN SWALLOW SUBSPECIES NEW TO CANADA CAMERON D. ECKERT, Yukon Parks, Department of Environment, Yukon Government, P.O. Box 2703, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 2C6; [email protected] RICHARD R. GORDON, Yukon Parks, Department of Environment, Yukon Government, Inuvik, Northwest Territories ABSTRACT: At least three of the 19 Barn Swallows recorded on Herschel Is- land–Qikiqtaruk, along the Arctic coast of the Yukon Territory, represent the white- bellied Old World subspecies Hirundo rustica rustica. The birds were photographed on 3 July 2010, 24 July 2015, and 19–20 June 2019. These first Canadian records are complemented by five from northern Alaska, west to Utqiaġvik (Barrow). This subspecies breeds in Europe, Africa, and northwestern Asia, east to the Yenisei River. The lack of Alaska records of H. r. rustica to the west of Utqiaġvik and of Canadian records east of Qikiqtaruk suggest that these vagrants reached the New World not by orienting or drifting at the wrong angle but by overshooting their normal spring migration path, following a nearly polar great-circle route. Extralimital birds can reveal unexpected connections among disparate places, they can challenge presumptions as to how birds move around the globe, and they can signal wide-scale ecological change. Herschel Island– Qikiqtaruk (69.6° N, 139.1° W), a Yukon territorial park of 116 km2 located 5 km off the Yukon’s Arctic coast, in northwestern Canada, has been a site for many extralimital birds over the years (Sinclair et al. 2003, Cooley et al. 2012, Burn 2012).
    [Show full text]
  • Barn Swallow (Hirundo Rustica) Richard A
    Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) Richard A. Wolinski Oakland Co., MI. June, 2007 © Robert Epstein This species is sponsored by Isaac R. Hunter. (Click to view a comparison of Atlas I to II) The colorful Barn Swallow is the most proclaim the species a common summer resident and rare on Isle Royale. A description given by abundant and widely distributed member of the Payne (1993) is as a common transient and swallow family in Michigan. The glossy blue- summer resident, more widely distributed in the black plumage of the upperparts, reddish-brown LP than in the UP. forehead and throat, rusty undersides, and deeply forked tail with white spots leave little Breeding distribution as shown by MBBA I and doubt as to the identity of this species. MBBA II shows that overall distribution has remained similar between the two survey The Barn Swallow is one of the mostly widely periods, but occupancy has generally declined distributed swallows in the temperate regions of about fifteen percent statewide based upon the the world (Rose and Turner 1989, Brown and number of occupied blocks. The ability to Brown 1999). In the western hemisphere it is confirm nesting for this species at the highest found throughout North America as a breeding level is high, with a total of 13.5% confirmed species, with its core distribution lying east of blocks. The largest change in terms of the the Rocky Mountains in the major agricultural number of unoccupied blocks appears areas from eastern Texas northward to the throughout the UP, with Schoolcraft County Upper Great Lakes states and southern Canada.
    [Show full text]
  • Swallows Nesting in Nuisance Locations
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Swallows Nesting in Nuisance Locations Cliff swallows present a high degree of intraspecific brood parasitism. Individuals often lay eggs in other individuals’ nests within the same colony. It has been observed that some parasitic swallows have even tossed out their neighbors’ eggs and replaced them with their own offspring. Parasitized swallows had lower success in fledging their own chicks. This behavior has been adapted to increase the parasitic swallow’s offspring’s success by passing on the burden of taking care of chicks to another individual. Solitary Barn swallow at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Tim Ludwick/USFWS There are eight species of swallows that regularly breed in North America: the Bank swallow, Barn swallow, Cave swallow, Cliff swallow, Northern Rough-winged swallow, Purple martin, Tree swallow, and Violet-green swallow. Natural History: After migrating north from their wintering grounds, mostly in Central America, Cliff and Barn swallows often nest on cliffs, canyons, bridges, and eaves of buildings. Swallows may construct an entirely new Cliff swallows constructing their nests at Kern National nest or they may use old nests, building off of traces Wildlife Refuge. Tim Ludwick/USFWS of mud where an old nest used to be. The breeding season for swallows lasts from March through Ecological Value of Swallows: September. They often produce two clutches per Swallows provide us with an ecological service as year, with a clutch size of 3-5 eggs. Eggs incubate insect controllers. They particularly consume between 13-17 days and fledge after 18-24 days. swarming insects such as bees, wasps, flies, However, chicks return to the nest after fledging for damselflies, moths, grasshoppers, crickets, and several weeks before they leave the nest for good.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Responses to the Migration of the Barn Swallow in Europe Ashleigh Green University of Melbourne
    Cultural responses to the migration of the barn swallow in Europe Ashleigh Green University of Melbourne Abstract: This paper investigates the place of barn swallows in European folklore and science from the Bronze Age to the nineteenth century. It takes the swallow’s natural migratory patterns as a starting point, and investigates how different cultural groups across this period have responded to the bird’s departure in autumn and its subsequent return every spring. While my analysis is focused on classical European texts, including scientific and theological writings, I have also considered the swallow’s representation in art. The aim of this article is to build alongue durée account of how beliefs about the swallow have evolved over time, even as the bird’s migratory patterns have remained the same. As I argue, the influence of classical texts on medieval and Renaissance thought in Europe allows us to consider a temporal progression (and sometimes regression) in the way barn swallow migration was explained and understood. The barn swallow The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) has two defining characteristics that have shaped how people living in Europe have responded to its presence over the centuries. The first relates to its movement across continents. The swallow migrates to Africa every autumn and returns to Asia in spring for breeding. Second, it is a bird that is often found in urban environments, typically nesting in or on buildings to rear its young.1 These two characteristics have meant that the barn swallow has been a feature of European life for centuries and has prompted a myriad of responses in science and folklore—particularly in Greek mythology.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Record of Common House-Martin (Delichon Urbicum) for British Columbia. by Rick Toochin, Peter Hamel, Margo Hearne and Martin Williams
    The First Record of Common House-Martin (Delichon urbicum) for British Columbia. By Rick Toochin, Peter Hamel, Margo Hearne and Martin Williams. Introduction and Distribution The Common House-Martin (Delichon urbicum) is a small passerine found in the Old World from Europe and Asia. There are 2 subspecies and most size differences between north and southern populations are clinal (Turner and Rose 1989). In Europe, the nominate subspecies (D. u. urbicum) is found breeding from Great Britain, to Russia, also in North Africa and across the Mediterranean Sea to Turkey and Israel and further east to central Asia (Mullarney and Zetterstrom 2009). This subspecies of the Common House-Martin winters throughout west and southeast Africa (Mullarney and Zetterstrom 2009). In Far East Asia, the subspecies (D. u. lagopodum) of Common-House Martin is a widespread breeding species from the Yenisei to North-east China, North-east Russia, Yakutia, Chukotka, north Koryakia coast and possibly in Kamchatka (Brazil 2009). The Common House-Martin is a rare migrant in Japan and Korea (Brazil 2009). This subspecies does winter in small numbers in South Eastern China, but the bulk of the population winters in Southeast Asia (Brazil 2009). In North America, the Common House-Martin is an accidental to casual vagrant (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). In Alaska, there is one specimen record of the Common House-Martin which belongs to the Asian subspecies (D. u. lagopodum), which is assumed to be the rest of the observations in Alaska, and this species is classified as casual with scattered records from Nome, St. Paul Island, Gambell, Buldir Island, St.
    [Show full text]
  • Swallows and Swifts- Behavior in a Small Geographical Area
    I J R B A T, Issue (VIII), Vol. III, Sept 2020: 247-258 e-ISSN 2347 – 517X A Double-Blind Peer Reviewed & Refereed Journal Original Article INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES IN BIOSCIENCES, AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY © VMS RESEARCH FOUNDATION www.ijrbat.in SWALLOWS AND SWIFTS- BEHAVIOR IN A SMALL GEOGRAPHICAL AREA Mirza S.S. Zoology Department, G.M. Vedak College of Science, Tala, Raigad. (M.S) Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Raigad District is one of the coastal districts of Maharashtra. There are many small ports on the seashore of the district. A comparative study was undertaken of Swallows and swifts found in Raigad District in the year 2019 from (June to May). In the present study six species were taken into consideration for taxonomic, habitation, nesting behaviour, foraging and breeding are focussed from Raigad District. Four different sites (Alibag, Panvel, Mangaon and Mahad) were selected. From each area two, two places were selected for the present study. Number of Swallows found were more in Mahad due to more bridges, water bodies and more insects available for food as found than other regions and swifts found were more in Mahad because of river and bridges and vast infrastructure and food available where Swifts can live. Key words: - Hirundinidae, Apodidae, Taxonomy, Foraging. INTRODUCTION: nesters. (Angela et. al., 2010). They also occur Raigad district is also like Thane district, a part on a number of oceanic islands. A number of of North Konkan. It is spread just adjoining to European and North American species are long- the district of Mumbai to its east and south-east distance migrants; by contrast, the West and across the Thane creek.
    [Show full text]
  • Beneficial Management Practices for Barn Swallow (Hirundo Rustica)
    Beneficial Management Practices for Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) Introduction Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica), like other migratory birds in Canada, are managed under Federal, Provincial, and Territorial legislation, to protect and conserve individuals and populations, and their nests and eggs. Barn Swallow populations in Canada have declined over the past four decades, indicating the need to take measures to ensure their conservation and recovery. This Beneficial Management Practice document focuses on British Columbia (B.C.) and is provided to stakeholders [e.g. government and non- government agencies, Aboriginal organizations, resource managers, rural landowners, farmers, transportation authorities] to assist in making proactive management decisions for activities that might affect Barn Swallows, with the overall intent of encouraging shared stewardship and conservation. Information presented here constitutes advice only. It is not intended to be relied on as official advice concerning the legal consequences of any specific activity and does not provide a guarantee that activities or practices will avoid contravening laws and regulations. All persons must adhere to all pertinent laws, regulations, and permit requirements that relate to their activities. Species Description The Barn Swallow is a medium-sized swallow [17- 20 g], with adults being recognized by their steely- blue upperparts, rufous underparts, chestnut throat and forehead, and long, deeply forked tail with white spots on inner webs (Brown and Brown 1999) (Figure 1). Males have longer outer tail feathers (Pyle 1997) and tend to be darker chestnut on underparts than females. © Brian Klinkenberg Figure 1. Barn Swallow, adult male, B.C. Distribution The Barn Swallow is found on every continent except Antartica (American Ornithologists’ Union 1998).
    [Show full text]