barn swallow babies alive last night, all dead in nest this morning, why? (1 Viewer)

[Maebaby]

There are 5 baby barn swallows who were almost old enough to fly. Last night they were alive and peeping for food when I went in the barn and this morning they are all dead in the nest. Heartbreaking. Why would this happen? would the parents stop feeding them? the nest is in a protected area in the barn and the door is open enough for the parents to come and go, and the back door to a covered area is completely open so they have good access.All of the other 5 nests have had babies mature and successfully fly away. There are no pesticides or chemicals on our place and the barn is clean.
thank you for any information.

 

[KC Foggin]

Does sound very strange for them to be okay last night and dead this a.m. Was one of the parents near by last night? If not, then possibly something got to the parents and therefore the kids weren't fed for a bit. I'm so sorry for the loss of these beautiful birds.

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum

 

[Maebaby]

Thank you for your kind response. I did not see a parent bird around last night, and the babies seemed hungry, as they were peeping at me. Could they have starved so soon ? if that situation happens again, could I have fed them?I feel so sad that they seemed so healthy and maybe I could have saved them.
have a good day, and thanks again for your kind message.

 

[KC Foggin]

When was the last time you saw the parents around the nest? If more than a day or so, it could leave the babies to starve.

Unfortunately with the door left open which I know you have to do, there's no telling what could have flown in and gone after the parents or they could have been attacked on the outside by a BOP or Crow.

Your best bet is to call a local wildlife rehabber and ask them what should you feed them if this should happen again. Good luck.

 

[Lisa W]

Hello, welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to hear about the babies.

 

[MTem]

It is most likely either one or both of the adults were predated recently, or that they just decided it was too late and migrated. The latter seems unlikely as it's a little early in the season. I don't know which state Hawley is in, but have the other local barn swallows gone? I know this sounds harsh, but this is likely the second or third brood and the adults sometimes just decide they can't stay any longer.
The only other option is some sort of parasite/disease, though I'm not sure what it could be and why it would get to all the young simultaneously.

Rest assured you could not have successfully fed and raised them. Hirundines are virtually impossible to hand rear and release I believe.

Mick

 

[jmepler]

If that's Hawley, Pennsylvania in Wayne County I think it's entirely likely that the parents abandoned the nest to migrate.

By the second week of August in northern Pennsylvania a large percentage of Barn Swallows are moving on. By the beginning of September few remain.

It may seem cruel, but the drive to survive and breed another year is stronger than the urge to try to save one brood. As Mick said, this is probably their third brood of the year.

While it seems like it wouldn't have mattered if they stayed another week until these nestlings fledged, migration is a time of great stress on birds. That week may have been the difference between surviving the migration or not.

 

[delia todd]

Hi Maebaby and a warm welcome from me too.

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of this nest. Always sad to see.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Welcome to BirdForum! We hope you enjoy your time here.

 

[Kilrymont]

An old thread, but maybe this comment might add something of value, maybe not. Either way it can’t do any harm.
Up to several days ago (today is August 17th, 2024.) I was seeing plenty of house martins, some swallows and some swifts. This is St Andrews, Fife. I’ve been photographing them regularly as they zip around so have been actively looking for them.
This is now the third day when .ive seen none of any of the three species. I don’t normally see sand martins at this exact location so their absence here is not abnormal.
This seems a little early somehow? I’m not exactly a highly experienced observer of these species so my comments may only be a reflection of my bird-naïveté?

 

[Mono]

Swifts will be off south.

Post breeding swallows and martins will often leave their breeding areas and congregate in communal feeding/roosting areas. Reed beds are common option.

 

[Kilrymont]

Swifts will be off south.

Post breeding swallows and martins will often leave their breeding areas and congregate in communal feeding/roosting areas. Reed beds are common option.

As an additional comment, just thought to check my last years flickr shots, and there were birds I shot collecting on power lines near Ceres, by Cupar, Fife on Sept 12th when out actively looking for any I could find, and the last swallow I shot last year was recorded (in exif data) as late as Sept 21st, about 5 weeks later than today. That was here in St Andrews. I’ll see if I can drive around some nearby known haunts tomorrow to see if there’s still some birds evident there, could be you’re right about collecting albeit earlier than last year.

Is it known if it’s shortening daylight hours or dropping temperatures that triggers the leave-response? if the latter, it’s certainly been noticeably cooler around here than usually associated with August.

 

[Fritz73]

Hola! Welcome to Birdforum