ON OUR BACK PORCH: The Growth of a Barn Swallow Family

In the middle of May, we noticed three barn swallows flying around our back yard, sometimes landing on a nail attached to our porch overhang, and sometimes fighting with each other. My guess is they were either fighting over their territory, or maybe two males were fighting over the female. Either way, eventually, there were only two swallows left, and then the couple began building their nest around the nail. It was interesting to see how they worked together as a couple, building a home to raise their family in, then taking turns feeding their babies, watching over them, and finally teaching them how to fly. Take a look at the photos and videos below to see the progression.

The top left photo was taken on May 12th. Below that is May 13th, then May 14th. The other side is May 15th, 16th, and 17th.

May 16th - Our cat, Sofie, was also watching the birds build their nest.

Top left was taken on May 18th. Below that is May 20th, and you can see the mama's head poking up out of the nest in that one. Then, the one on the right was taken on May 22nd as the mama was pulling feathers out of her rear end and lining the nest with them. 
 

The papa was keeping watch nearby as mama began laying her eggs in the nest.

In the short video below, you can see Papa Swallow taking a shower in the rain while the mama sits on the eggs in the nest. If you listen closely, you can hear a Matt Redman CD playing in the background with the song, "Oh no, You never let go, through the calm and through the storm." That did not happen intentionally but turned out to be appropriate, considering the mild thunderstorm.

May 29th - Five small speckled eggs were seen in the nest.

May 29th - Mama is nesting the eggs.

June 11th - Two or three of the babies, newly hatched

In this video, the parents did not like me being outside so close to their babies, so they started dive-bombing me to scare me away.

June 20th - Another look at the 3 babies as they sleep.

June 20th - The babies are awake, and poking their heads over the side.

This video was taken by my husband, David. We were watching the birds through an open window, and the parents started freaking out at our presence.

June 25th - All three babies sitting on the edge waiting to be fed.

June 27th - Almost fully grown. One of the babies had already taken flight at this point, was out flying around during the daytime, then came back to the nest in the late afternoon.

This video was taken with only 2 of the babies in their nest. They were testing their wings. The next day, the one on the left was also out flying during the morning hours, leaving only one bird left in the nest.

June 30th - In this photo, two of the babies were out flying during the morning hours, and one of the parents was still flying around, watching over the third baby. It seemed as if the entire family was working together at this point, trying to encourage the last baby to spread his wings and take flight.

 

June 30th - The final baby, still a bit too timid to try flying.

July 1st - The first two babies left the nest and landed on the top of our ladder, waiting for the third baby to finally take flight.

July 3rd - The final baby finally flew out and we were left with an empty nest.

It was fun watching the entire process from start to finish, and seeing how the parents worked together to raise their family; and it even seemed like the siblings were encouraging each other as they were growing up and heading out into the big world - the example of a close-knit family.

We occasionally see one or two swallows still flying around the nest, or stopping by for a visit, but they don't stay in it overnight. I have a feeling they will return in the Spring, so we have decided to leave the nest alone and wait to see what happens. I look forward to watching as they raise another swallow family.