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Bird's-Eye View - Several types of swallows can be seen in the Triad
David Disher Photo
Cliff swallows like to nest on concrete bridges and can form large colonies.
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Published: August 7, 2009
Updated: 08/06/2009 08:05 pm
Swallows are among my favorite birds to watch. Their flight is so graceful as they swoop low over water and open fields foraging for insects. They are a social bunch, too, often performing their maneuvers in flocks.
They also tell us about changing seasons. I know that spring is near when the first swallows arrive at Salem Lake, Civitan Park or the Bethabara wetland in March. When they leave in late August or early September, I am ready for fall's cool weather. The next few weeks provide our last chance for awhile to see these fascinating birds.
Why are they called swallows? When they forage, they open their small bills wide to scoop up insects as they fly along. Chimney swifts use the same technique and look similar, but they are not considered swallows. About 90 species of swallow exist worldwide. In the Triad, we can see five or six of those species.
Swallows have adapted well to human neighbors. They readily attach their mud nests to barns, buildings and bridges, burrow into exposed banks along highways ,or in some cases, readily use man-made boxes. Several species, such as the barn swallow, have likely increased in number since Colonial times.
Barn swallow is most common
The barn swallow is easy to recognize with its deeply forked tail and rich colors of blue and orange. It's our most common swallow. The male has a dark blue head and back, an orange belly and a red-orange throat. Females have a creamy-white underneath. Young birds have a white band across a less-forked tail.
When barn swallows aren't cruising, they perch on nearby wires or tend their nests. The nests are made from mud and grass and lined with feathers. Swallows' feet are small, so the birds scoop up mud pellets with their beaks. Barn swallows usually nest in small colonies. Like other swallows, both parents incubate the eggs and feed the young.
Cliff swallows are fairly new residents in our area. Over the last 30 years, they have spread northward along the Yadkin River. Now you can see their nesting colonies at the U.S. 158 and Interstate 40 bridges near Tanglewood Park, and at the Shallowford Road, Old 421 and N.C. 67 bridges.
At first glance, a cliff swallow looks much like its barn-swallow cousin. Both have a rusty red throat, but only the barn swallow has that forked tail. The cliff swallow also has a buff-colored patch on the rump. Cliff swallows may nest in large colonies of hundreds or even thousands.
Cliff swallows arrive in early April, after some of the other swallows. They prefer concrete bridges for juglike nests that they build on top or in corners of the abutments under the bed. Sometimes a female lays an egg in one nest and then carries it to another female's nest. Young birds congregate in large groups, but parents apparently can pick out their children by voice.
The northern rough-winged swallow is small and brown with a white belly and a tan wash on its throat. The name refers to serrations on outer wing feathers. This species nests in the Triad in clay mud banks. Bank swallows look similar and nest in stream banks, but we see them here only occasionally during migration.
Migrating tree swallows appear in large numbers at local lakes and ponds during spring and late summer. No more than a few actually nest here, though. Adult birds are an iridescent blue-green on top and white underneath. They have only a small notch in the end of their tail. They often displace bluebirds from man-made boxes.
The purple martin is our largest swallow. With development, martins are harder to find in Forsyth County. If you are at the beach, stop at the old Mann's Harbor/Manteo bridge on an August night. Thousands of martins roost there on their way south. If you put up gourds or houses for martins, place them in open areas.
Bird walk Saturday
Audubon's August bird walk will feature barn swallows and other birds of Civitan Park. The walk will be at 8 a.m. Saturday. Park at Winston-Salem State University behind the Anderson Center near the footbridge. For more information, contact Gene Schepker at 768-6645 or loissch@gmail.com. Note that this site is a change from the previously announced location.
■ Bird's-Eye View is a joint column by Ron Morris and Phil Dickinson. Today's column was written by Dickinson. Dickinson is a legal writer. He has been an active birder for 15 years, and is a past president of the Audubon Society of Forsyth County and heads the conservation committee. Morris retired after 24 years as curator at the N.C. Zoo. He has studied birds around the world and is currently the vice president of the Audubon Society of Forsyth County. If you have a birding question or story idea, write to Bird's-Eye View in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101-3159, or send an e-mail to birding@wsjournal.com. Please type "birds" in the subject line.
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