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Swallows frequenting old nests

To: John Leonard <>
Subject: Swallows frequenting old nests
From: Carl Clifford <>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 14:27:16 +1100
Over some 15 years, while living in Dubbo, NSW, Welcome Swallows would regularly nest in the carparks below the two small shopping malls in the main street. After nesting they used the piping for the fire sprinkler systems and other projections from the ceiling of the carpark as roosts. The mall owners tried many ploys to dissuade the Swallows, but to no avail. The birds no doubt helped with the sale of car cleaning products in the town.

Carl Clifford


On 04/03/2009, at 10:38 AM, John Leonard wrote:

I have been observing a pair of Swallows in an open-to-the-air covered
car park at the office building where I work. They have a nest in a
sheltered corner near a fluorescent Exit sign which is constantly on.
They began building a nest in September/October and had fledged young
by the end of December. This year I have observed that the adult birds
(but not the young) have continued to hang around the nest. I first I
thought they were nesting again, but there is no sign of this. A few
days ago the nest disappeared (either it fell down and was cleared up,
or the maintenance people knocked it down), and they still hang around
the area, mostly commonly they sit on top of the Exit sign. I notice
them when I park my bike around 7am each day, and when I leave around
3.30pm each afternoon.

Is it common behaviour for swallows to come back and perch around
their former nest-site after breeding? Are they guarding a site until
the end of the season, expecting to return next year? or is it just a
habitual perch for them?

--
John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net
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