My barn swallow flock seemed to consist of adults and juveniles, and
neither the red-tail nor the sharpie encounter happened particularly close
to the building where they nest.
Take care,
Milton
On Jul 3, 2026 at 11:45:22 AM, 'Kurk Dorsey' via NHBirds <
<nhbirds...> wrote:
> Hi all,
> Regarding Milton's question, way back in the '80s (1980s, not 1880s), I
> had the pleasure of working on a research project on tree swallows with
> Dave Winkler at Cornell. One of the many things we did was to try to map
> out which swallows responded to threats, so we had a system where we would
> release either a 6-foot snake (I think it was a rat snake) or a ferret near
> the nest boxes, then document which banded swallows would come to defend
> the nests. The snake and ferret were tethered, so no risk to the birds,
> not that the birds were convinced of that (since that was the point, I
> guess). Dave's theory was that the swallows would come to defend the nests
> in which they might have had a genetic interest, since it was like a soap
> opera with all of the philandering going on. It's quite a sight when a
> substantial colony of swallows goes bananas over a giant snake, but it was
> probably more graceful to watch the barn swallows chase the sharpie.
>
> Kurk Dorsey
> Durham
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* <nhbirds...> <nhbirds...> on behalf of
> Milton Trimitsis <trimitsis...>
> *Sent:* Friday, July 3, 2026 11:06 AM
> *To:* <nhbirds...> <nhbirds...>
> *Subject:* [NHBirds] Assertive barn swallows in Sullivan
>
>
> CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the University System. Do
> not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and
> know the content is safe.
>
> My local barn swallows are taking it up a notch this morning. First I saw
> one dive-bombing one of the resident red-tails that was perched on the
> power line tower. When the red-tail flushed, the barn swallow continued
> its harassment for a good distance. A few minutes later I saw a group of
> about 14 barn swallows in hot pursuit of a sharp-shinned hawk. The hawk
> eventually took cover in the dense canopy of a red oak, but the swallows
> continued swirling around it and scolding loudly. This is totally new
> behavior to me…anyone else seeing this sort of thing?
>
> Cheers!
>
> Milton Trimitsis
> Five Sigma Farm
> Sullivan, NH
>
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