Re: Nesting

Hello Everyone

At Otmoor yesterday watching Swallows and Swifts skimming the water,great stuff.I asked myself the question where do all these birds nest when in open land like Otmoor.Do they all head for the nearest buildings....I don`t know ! Anyone out there, that does know.

Hi waspur welcome to the forum..

Good question.

Nest wherever possible. Not helpful really but that's the best answer really. They can fly many many miles searching for food so they could breed miles away. Plus, when fresh in they often go to wetlands.

hi swallows a & awifts often make there nests under the neer guttering of a local buiding and the they make will be with scoops of clay and mud foud neer water hope this helps

If the birds are fresh in they may not be nesting yet and they will roost in reed beds or trees,we counted 50 or more roosted in a tree the other evening miles away from any building suitable for a nest site.

Where did they nest before humans put up suitable buildings to attach nest to??

No doubt thet would be using Cliffs and rocky outcrops.Would they use tree holes I wonder ?before mankind started erecting buildings there may have been great demand for nest holes.

Hi waspur,

Swallows have nested in our front porch for several years. We don't know how they managed before they established a nest here, and it amazes us as to how they find their way back year after year. We tend to leave the nest as is and each year they do some maintenance work on it before breeding and rearing their young. Below is a photo taken two years ago of the fledglings in the nest. Sadly, last year the fledglings totally disappeared within a couple of days of being born. We have no idea why, other than a magpie or similar discovered there were rich pickings there.