Cliff swallows
In several places at Caprock Canyons State Park in north Texas on May 15th cliff swallows, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, made their presence known. These birds evolved to build nests of mud on the undersides of rock overhangs, which accounts for the cliff in their common name. It turns out that outdoor human shelters work just fine, too, as you see in the top picture. Here’s a closer look:
From a different shelter, a telephoto view shows how a cliff swallow builds its nest.
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And speaking of birds, you might enjoy the article “Weirdest birds:
meet 12 strange and weird wonders of the avian world.”
© 2024 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Thank you, Steve, for the wonderful Sunday treat and the interesting link!
Joanna
gabychops
June 2, 2024 at 4:31 AM
You’re welcome for both.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 7:57 AM
Thank you!
Joanna
gabychops
June 2, 2024 at 9:34 AM
amazing
MichaelStephenWills
June 2, 2024 at 7:35 AM
The swallows put on quite a show in the adjacent airspace as they swooped in and out. I took some pictures of that but their motion was so fast that I didn’t come away with any pictures that worked well. Win some, lose some.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 8:03 AM
There are two places where I’ve seen nests aligned as they are in your first photo: at the pavilion by the Brazoria wildlife refuge boardwalk, and under a picnic shelter at San Bernard. Both spots are relatively near water, which may suggest a ready supply of mosquitoes. On the other hand, I also found nests at Monument Rocks in western Kansas. It wasn’t nesting season and the birds were gone, so I wasn’t able to photograph birds in or around the nests. That last photo is splendid.
shoreacres
June 2, 2024 at 7:55 AM
The last picture is from the park’s welcome center. I hadn’t even gone inside yet when I became aware of what was going on in the rafters. I walked right back to the car, put a long lens and flash on the camera, and returned to take a bunch of pictures. Even with the telephoto I ended up having to crop off about 7/8 of the full frame’s area for the tight portrait you see here.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 8:09 AM
And speaking of alignment, I should add that the swallows had nestified the opposite sides of those rafters as well.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 8:15 AM
What a great word: ‘nestified.’ Neither ‘nestified’ nor ‘nestify’ has made it onto Ngram yet.
shoreacres
June 2, 2024 at 8:22 AM
Though I made up the word independently, I see other people beat me to it.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 10:47 AM
These are fantastic photographs!
Anne
June 2, 2024 at 8:42 AM
Thanks. I was in a good place at a good time with appropriate camera gear.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 10:48 AM
A great set of photos, Steve. Love the close up–they’re such cute little birds.
Tina
June 2, 2024 at 8:43 AM
Not till that morning had I ever gotten such a close look at a swallow, and that was thanks to my telephoto lens. I didn’t know about the coloring on these birds.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 10:50 AM
Great image of the one in the nest with nesting material in its mouth.
We have these in the neighborhood. They try to set up their nests in my door wreath or above my front door but, we keep opening the door and startling them so they move on. Usually it only takes a few times doing that and they get the hint and move on.
circadianreflections
June 2, 2024 at 10:16 AM
Although I’d seen cliff swallow nests in other places, even right here in Austin, this was the closest look at one of these birds I ever got.
If I were a cliff swallow trying to nest in the wreath or frame on an active doorway, I’d get frustrated and move on, too.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 10:56 AM
That is so cool!
oneowner
June 2, 2024 at 12:05 PM
For someone who’s at best an incidental bird photographer, this worked out pretty well.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 1:42 PM
Great educational post. We also have a sub species ‘Petrochelidon fulva puertoricensis’ in PR and they simply nest underneath bridges. They’re called ‘golondrinas’.
Maria
June 2, 2024 at 12:34 PM
Cliff swallows in Texas, including Austin, nest under bridges, too, particularly highway overpasses.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 1:51 PM
Even before I learned the Spanish word golondrina I knew the related French hirondelle. Both go back to the Latin name for a swallow, hirundo.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 1:55 PM
Yes, I read about Latin ‘hirundo’ too. Thanks for the ‘Travis Audubon’ article!
Maria
June 2, 2024 at 2:04 PM
Sure thing.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 2:19 PM
Oh, these birds are so annoying. After the swallows famously return to San Juan Capistrano, some continue to come up here, where they get sloppy under eaves.
tonytomeo
June 2, 2024 at 6:01 PM
“Sloppy”: that’s why I took most of my pictures from slightly outside the shelter.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 6:53 PM
I am glad that cows do not fly.
tonytomeo
June 2, 2024 at 9:03 PM
Well said.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 10:10 PM
Thank goodness birds are so adaptable and make do with human-made structures if their natural ones are no longer available or scarce. I love watching these busy swallows when they build their mud nests and later, when they are indefatigably engaged in feeding their offspring.
The list of the 12 “weirdest” birds is very subjective. As of today, there are 11,017 avian species and one could easily choose an entirely different set with unusual features. Which only proves how fascinating birds are.
tanjabrittonwriter
June 2, 2024 at 6:17 PM
I thought about you when I posted this. You’ve raised several questions. Did swallows previously nest, or do they still also nest, in natural geological formations at Caprock Canyons State Park? Did the construction of wood shelters add to the overall swallow population? Might wooden shelters be superior, for the swallows’ purposes, to natural ones? Perhaps ornithologists or other naturalists have researched those things.
I, too, got the impression that the list of “weirdest” birds was arbitrary, and that an equally “weird” set could have been chosen with all 12 members different from the ones in the article.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2024 at 7:00 PM
All excellent questions!
tanjabrittonwriter
June 3, 2024 at 2:53 PM
More easily asked than answered.
Steve Schwartzman
June 3, 2024 at 3:18 PM
Yes.
tanjabrittonwriter
June 3, 2024 at 4:09 PM
Amazing photo of the swallow building its nest! That’s a great community that they’ve built there, though I realise that not all of the nests may be in use.
Ann Mackay
June 5, 2024 at 9:23 AM
I think you’re right that not all the nests were still in use. As for the last picture, it came from the park’s welcome center. I hadn’t even gone inside yet when I became aware of what was going on in the rafters outside. I walked right back to the car, put a long lens and flash on the camera, and returned to take a bunch of pictures. Even with the telephoto I ended up having to crop off about 7/8 of the full frame’s area for the tight portrait you see here.
Steve Schwartzman
June 5, 2024 at 2:59 PM
Very clever indeed … the last photo is super
Julie@frogpondfarm
June 10, 2024 at 2:13 PM
My telephoto zoom lens is heavy, and I get tired of lugging it around in my camera bag and seldom using it. Once in a while, though, it saves the day.
Steve Schwartzman
June 10, 2024 at 2:52 PM