PMs and Barn Swallows

sonja8582 · Sat Mar 19, 2022 7:42 pm

Has anyone else noticed that PMs will join with barn sparrows when larger birds are around and chase/squawk at loudly the large birds? The two very different types of swallows join forces in my back yard!

C.C.Martins · Sat Mar 19, 2022 8:43 pm

Im not lucky enough to have barn swallows, but Id imagine its a great sight. Dont mess with the nesting swallow family.
Twice today saw the martins dive bombing a passing hawk, harassed it to no end, 10 or 11 males giving it what for; always makes me cringe though, all it has to do is turn upside down to nab one.
When they have eggs they won't tolerate the greater grackles, they go after them as well.

sonja8582 · Sun Mar 20, 2022 8:39 am

Thank for the reply! It was last summer- when I only had one pair- that they joined with barn swallows and this year I’ve got 2 pairs already so I’m wondering if they will continue joining barn swallows if they have enough of their own kind?

flyin-lowe · Sun Mar 20, 2022 10:46 am

I have a 5 acre yard and have several different kinds of birds nest on my property (BB, TS, kill deer, to name a few). When a hawk gets within eye sight of any of them an alarm sounds and all species will take to the skies. I have found the kill deer are the best alarm. They are almost always the first ones to spot a hawk and they get into the air and have everyone else on alert before I can even locate the hawk typically.

Thomas Maddox · Sun Mar 20, 2022 12:15 pm

I only have one pair of PMs right now. There is a colony 3 houses down who has several pairs. Yesterday, I noticed that the PMs from both along with the BSs were mingling through out the day(at least when the PMs were flying low). It appeared, at times, that they were flying together. Maybe due to the fact that the area was were the insects happened to be? Fun to watch. I put up a BS nest cup on my back porch recently. Hopefully they will find it.

sonja8582 · Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:41 pm

Hi Thomas,
I took some videos last year of the PMs and the BS flying together and chasing off the predator birds (hawks, we have a Cooper hawk in the area that is particularly dangerous and has killed some of the song birds). I’m going to look for the video. It made me laugh- they were unifying for a good cause. The PMs and BSs only did this once they had young in their nests.

sonja8582 · Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:48 pm

I’m trying to attach the video I don’t know if it’s going to be too large of a file; files says error unfortunately