AUGUST I SEPTEMBER 2020 birdsandblooms.com 33
Kenn and Kimberly
Kaufman wait every
summer to see if they’ll
have tree swallows in
their nest boxes or barn
swallows nesting under
the porch roof of their
Ohio home.
OUT OF THE CAVES
These swallows found
a new way of living.
As recently as 45 years ago,
cave swallows were quite
rare in the United States,
nesting in a few caves in
Texas and at Carlsbad
Caverns National Park in New
Mexico. Sometime around
1980, these birds discovered
that they could also build
their nests inside highway
culverts, which resembled
little caves. They also began
nesting under bridges and
other structures. Now
they’re common summer
birds across most of Texas,
spilling over into Louisiana,
Oklahoma and New Mexico.
Purple martin houses
Bank swallow
colors on the back and more white on
the face. Unlike the tree swallow, which
is found from coast to coast, the violet-
green is a specialty of the Far West. It
also uses nest boxes that are designed
for bluebirds.
The Tunnel Dwellers
Two more kinds of swallows nest in
holes, but not holes in trees. Both the
bank swallow and the northern rough-
winged swallow are shades of brown,
a color that camouflages them against
the dirt banks where they dig and place
their nests.
Bank swallows are highly sociable,
forming colonies where up to a thousand
underground tunnels may be crammed
close together. Sometimes they choose
the edges of man-made quarries, in
locations where no natural dirt banks
are available. In late summer, after
nesting season ends, flocks of hundreds
of bank swallows gather near lakes
or marshes. Rough-winged swallows
are more solitary year-round, often
nesting as isolated pairs and never
forming large flocks.
Purple Martin Majesties
These birds are the largest swallows in
North America, and arguably the most
popular. Every where east of the Rockies
in the United States and in southern
Canada, homeowners put up elaborate
multiroomed houses, hoping to attract
a colony of nesting purple martins.
Purple martins come back early in
spring from their winter haunts in South
America. The purplish black males
usually arrive before the paler females,
and both reward their human hosts with
lively activity and rich musical calls
throughout the spring and summer.
In the West, where they are much
less numerous, many purple martins
use traditional nest sites in tree holes.
In the Southwest, they use holes in
giant cactuses. But in the East, almost
all martins nest in houses that people
put up just for them.
It’s no wonder that many people
are fascinated by martins and other
members of the swallow family. With
their graceful flight and gregarious
nature, swallows make lovely wild
bird neighbors. •
A purple martin
perches on its
apartment-style
nest box.