Barn Swallow

I spotted this Barn Swallow at the Delaware Raritan Canal.

Here's a joke originally about Barn Owls.

Barn Swallows when humans first started building barns: "Oh yeah, it's all coming together!"

In actuality, Barn Swallows do kind of like nesting in man-made structures, but don't require those structures to be barns. For a few years they were using a roofed bird blind at Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve. In this case I believe the Barn Swallow may have been building a nest under a bridge at the canal.

Though I'd like to think that Barn Swallows and Barn Owls would bond over their shared love of barns, I'm pretty sure that Barn Swallows are on the menu of the Barn Owls, seriously jeopardizing any neighborly relationship [1].

Barn Swallows are considered the most widespread swallow in the world, living on parts of every continent except Antarctica [2]. None of its closest relatives live in the New World, and its genus seems to be best represented in Africa. Although its most commonly seen relative in NJ is probably the Tree Swallow, I've gotten pictures of Northern Rough-winged Swallows and seen (rarely) Purple Martins too. The Barn Swallow's rufus underparts distinguish it from its Tree Swallow relatives.

May 10, 2023 at Delaware Raritan Canal
Photo 282316467, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

May 10, 2023 at Delaware Raritan Canal
Photo 282316429, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] Barn Owls will eat birds, though their specialty is hunting nocturnal mammals. While adult Barn Swallows are probably too fast and elusive for Barn Owls to bother trying to hunt, Barn Swallow nestling would almost certainly be in jeopardy.

[2] Usually if there is 1 continent that a plant or animal doesn't live on, it turns out to be Antarctica. I suspect it might have something to do with the climate. 😉

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