Barn Swallows in Action
A few weekends ago I had the joy of witnessing these barn swallow family dynamics in action. A group of juveniles perched on this railing and adults swooped in with tiny bugs to feed them. Every time an adult was overhead the little ones would open their beaks and scream. It was amazing seeing the grownups put their whole heads in the open mouths of the juveniles!
An adult barn swallow sticks their head into the enormous open beak of a juvenile while another swallow watches looking indignant.
A barn swallow with beautiful blue and orange feathers, and white markings on their tail swoops with open wings over a group of juvenile swallows perched on a railing.
A barn swallow is flying over a group of other swallows all lined up on a railing.
An adult barn swallow hovers as it prepares to feed a juvenile with their beak wide open.
A group of barn swallows are preening on a railing while one is fed by a passing adult.
I found myself wondering if the adults were able to tell which young ones were theirs and if they were feeding just their own babies or just the loudest one with the biggest maw. This group didn’t seem very phased by humans walking by, though they did scatter for a minute when groups of joggers or hikers would go by on the boardwalk. Lucky me, they came back pretty quickly!
Closeup portrait of a juvenile barn swallow looking cute.
A group of juvenile barn swallows perched on a railing.
An adult barn swallow looking sophisticated as they perch on a railing. They have a white breast, blue and orange head, and long skinny tail feathers.
I’ve tried photographing barn swallows before and it is extremely tricky because they’re just so fast. This seemed like a really special event and I’m definitely going to try to remember to go back next year at this time to see if it happens again.
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