any cliff swallow 'landlords' out there?

[Louise Chambers]

Who has Cliff Swallows nesting on their property? We are working on an article for the Update but could use some photos - if you are interested in contributing please email me - [email protected] would be better than private message, thanks.

[John Miller]

I look forward to the article. Cliff swallows interest me and I've taken note of some nesting sites on dams and bridges, but sure don't have any in my back yard!

There are many on a Mississippi River Dam at Clarksville, Mo and they can be seen flying with the martins. I have also seen several colonies in Missouri nesting under highway overpasses.

This old web site includes some neat cliff swallow photos..it's about a youth birding group in Ohio visiting an Amish farm where cliff swallows nest on the side of a barn.

http://ohioyoungbirders.org/past_activi ... county.htm

Hopefully martin landlords with actual cliff swallow colonies will emerge..there must be some.

John M

[Brad-AL]

I would be thrilled to have them nest here. We have a gazillion (nearly) Barnies nesting in 3 of our barns. I have thought about making a fake CS nest out of a gourd and attaching to the barn. Does anyone know the minimum opening they could get into? I miss my RWS that use to nest in my Stucco mailbox at my old house, maybe I could fill that niche with some Cliff Swallows.

There are many, many that nest close to here on the Tennessee river.

[ToyinPA]

We have them here in central PA. They nest under the bridges that go over water. Sadly a huge colony was forced to relocate due to work on the bridges. Some came back tho. Like our Martin colonies, they reuse old houses, which is their mud nests.

Here's an article I found on saving Cliff Swallow nests by the Dept of Transportation:
http://www.enviro-explorers.com/swallows.htm

ToyinPA

[John Balga]

Linda B. from our club has over 60 nests set along her shed in Tilbury, Ontario. She started by placing artificial nests under the eaves and ended up with the swallows using them and adding their own nests to the mix. The strings with washers at the end deter the HOSP from entering but the swallows don't seem to mind. The one new completed nest was just finished and awaits a new string attachment. These swallows are hard to photograph as they are very skiddish.

[pugsleyhall]

What wonderful nests! I would love to have some of those little fellows myself.


Melissa

[Brad-AL]

John, that is really cool. Do you know where she got the fake nests to start the colony with? I did a google search and found a patent for a cliff swallow nest, but could not find the actual nest.

[John Balga]

John, that is really cool. Do you know where she got the fake nests to start the colony with? I did a google search and found a patent for a cliff swallow nest, but could not find the actual nest.

Brad, I sent you an e-mail with the information you requested. I hope this helps......

[jeffwilliams72]

John, I hate to bug you with this, but Brad isn't the only one looking for these nests, since seeing them on the forum. I tried the google search also and couldn't find them for sale. Would you mind posting that link on the forum?

[Louise Chambers]

Jeff,

Forum rules don't allow links to sites selling martin products, or to commercial sites, generally. I'll ask John to email the site to me and see if it's one we could make an exception for or not. I wouldn't mind putting up some cliff swallow nests...

[Louise Chambers]

The product is called a Cliff Swallow Hollow - to view, google "cliff swallow hollow". The seller is in Canada so there will be some additional expense shipping them to US, possibly.

[Guest]

Our local old vacant Walmart building hosts a number of Cliff Swallows. These buildings are good for something.

[jeffwilliams72]

Louise, Thank you very much for the info.
I have barnies and trees, still trying to get my martins back, why not try for cliffs also?
Did have lots of martin visitors, and an SY male trying his hardest to serenade the ladies, he brought leaves in and had several ladies hang out. But they would not commit. He stayed til a week ago, he must have given in and settled in an established colony nearby?
If I ever figure out how, I will try to attract bank swallows also. I know of a colony less than 3 miles from my property.

[Louise Chambers]

Good for you, Jeff

I've seen people bury PVC pipes for roughwinged swallows to nest in. Bank Swallows, I don't know - they use banks! where's your nearest savings & loan?

[KathyF]

Well, the cliff swallows nests look like large gourds turned on their sides to me!

Looks like you could just build some cubby holes under your rafters and put doors on the front with round entrances, then cover it all with mud and 'voila'!! Instant cliff swallow dwelling!! Of couse, my hubby would over engineer my "simple" approach to providing nesting for them, and I would end up spending hundreds of dollars on my approach.

[jeffwilliams72]

Hey Louise, the way banks are closing, there will be alot of bank swallows looking for new homes!!! LOL

[Brad-AL]

I buried some PVC pipes on the back side of one of our pond dams, but nothing has ever nested in it as far as I know.

You can build a Stucco covered cinder block mailbox like the one in the photo and Rough Winged Swallow's, might nest in it. They nested in this one for the last 4 years we lived at that house. They nested in the newspaper slot, a 3" PVC pipe, 20" long. I made a couple of nestboxes and put the same size and length of pipe on them as the entrance, but have not attracted any Swallows to them.

[jeffwilliams72]

Brad,
I think I will try to imitate your old mailbox nest site. I have seen rough wings around skimming for insects.
Did you ever get a link to the cliff swallow hollow site? I googled it, and found nothing. If you have this info, could you please forward it to me?

[ToyinPA]

Jeff......sent you a PM with site.

ToyinPA

[~Patrick~]

Williamburg bird bottles would be ideal for cliff swallows. You could mount several together to give them the "colony" feel. You can do a google search and find them. There are 18th century reports of martins nesting in them also. They sometimes referred to them as "martin pots".

Patrick