disappearing swallows......

[anniekat]

last year a pair of swallows raised 3 broods of young in our old sheep shelter - first time we've had them nesting here for years.

this year, the same (presumably) pair came back and proceeded to build a nest, laid eggs and finally last sunday brought out the youngsters. there were 4 of them lined up on the fence not far from the shelter.

by lunchtime they had all disappeared - including the adults. not a sign of them anywhere in the area.

last year, the family would stay in our paddock until they were pushed out by the adults when they wanted to start another brood and at the end of the season - they could all be seen in the skies over the paddocks.

has anybody any ideas of what could have happened? could a sparrowhawk wipe out a family in a morning?

[Littlesparrow]

I would think swallows would be too quick for a sparrow hawk to catch, although if they have seen one in the area they could have gone somewhere else to keep out of the way. I think it is more likely they have found a better food source and moved on for a while.
I see swallows in two different places, one is on a dairy farm and the other is flying down between a row of very large oak, both are good sources of insects.

[anniekat]

thanks for your reply! i am hoping that they have moved on. but strangely, today i saw a singing male swallow sitting on the usual post near the field shelter. then he flew in and out of the shelter. i am presuming that he is trying to attract another female to the nest site. but i haven't seen him since, so i think he may have been unsuccessful! still, it gives me hope for next year.

[Dogghound]

Sparrowhawks and some of the smaller falcons (merlin, hobby) can catch swallows. Although I dont think thats the cause of their disappearance. Its most likely that they have moved on as Littlesparrow suggests. There is nothing tying them to the nest now so they will be on look out for better feeding areas and will most likely roost closer to these.

[PMG]

Its most likely that they have moved away - a natural progression as they fly about to feed and follow swarms of insects and go down lanes and just end up somewhere different. It is also just possible that all four young have fallen prey to something - they are sitting ducks for sparrowhawks as are all newly fledged birds and a bird of prey with growing squawking young of its own isn't going to ignore an easy food supply ..... A couple of years ago we watched an Eider duck with 13 ducklings lose them one after the other to a hunting buzzard. The mother was going beserk, the young were not old enough to dive and stay submerged and were easy to pluck from the water and the buzzard did just that and ate the lot - and it wasn't feeding young - it was feeding itself. The Eider ended up with one duckling and were not sure she kept that but we'd watched enough by then ........ Sadly its how life runs.

Pauline

[anniekat]

yes, i agree that they can move on - but the fledglings had only flown from the nest 4 hours earlier. think it must've been the sparrowhawk that picked that off. we live in such an isolated spot in the fens - so if they would've had to have moved miles away before we couldn't spot them. and totally different from last year when all 3 broods hung around with us until they migrated. the male has now given up trying to attract another female.

[PMG]

Originally Posted by anniekat

yes, i agree that they can move on - but the fledglings had only flown from the nest 4 hours earlier. think it must've been the sparrowhawk that picked that off. we live in such an isolated spot in the fens - so if they would've had to have moved miles away before we couldn't spot them. and totally different from last year when all 3 broods hung around with us until they migrated. the male has now given up trying to attract another female.

Yes the fact that the male is on his own is suggestive of something befalling the rest of the family - as its a bit late in the year for a new male to show up on his own and start looking to breed. The young do fly well within hours and if they follow the parents they could quite easily get a long way away in a matter of hours. We had a family on the telephone wires outside our bedroom window last year - I don't know how far away the nest would have been but I can't think of anywhere in the immediate vicinity. They didn't stay more than a few hours and then suddenly all gone and not seen since!

Pauline

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by anniekat

the male has now given up trying to attract another female.

This could be another male bird, unless it has a ring on it or has a distinctive plumage feature theres no way of telling. These birds can move considerable distances and are capable of long flights after fledging, as Pauline suggested. It can be complex, last year you may have had more food around but this year they have had to travel further and decided to stay away.

[posie]

..sorry, had to delete hadn't seen a previous post so irrelevent

[anniekat]

hi and thank you for all your replies! i think i may have to defer to your greater knowledge! have just seen a pair of swallows going into the shelter and young swallows flying around overhead. so i think the family is back - hopefully!