Swallows Project

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Swallows Project

Swallows are bird’s species which are small in size with a dark color, glossy-blue backs, red neck, pale-color underparts, and long tail streamers. These birds are quite active in their flight, and they spent most of the time on the wing. Swallows are common breeding birds which are mostly present in Northern Hemisphere, and they migrate to South in winter for better food availability and breeding. Swallows are extremely good parents, and they are quite protective for their children. To protect their children, they normally build nests in the form of hole or cranny in a tree, they also build tunnel or burrow in a sandbank or plaster mud onto a wall. Swallows can be found around the globe except for the regions that are very cold and present threat to their survival, so in such a situation, they travel from colder to hotter regions.

When in the colder season Swallows migrate to a new place then the first thing they do is building a nest. Swallows construct nests from mud bits that they gather in their beaks. These nests can either be mug-shaped or gourd-shaped. The interior of these nests is lined with leaves, feathers, and hair. Barn Swallows built their nests in bridges, docks or any ledges that are manmade that can easily support the nests and protect it from raining or any harsh environmental changes. While many people enjoy the sites of nests around there homes because it takes them closer to mother nature, many people face a problem when these Barn Swallows construct nests around their homes. As Swallows can build their nests in a short span of 24 hours, this causes huge problems for the people. Although Swallow eats a large amount of pesky insect which is their major food source later they tend to become the larger pests by constructing their nests in manmade structures. They can easily damage properties, and also their dropping creates large health issues, and also they require heavy, expensive and time-consuming cleanups and repair ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"2PRfsfmI","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Perrier, de Lope, M\\uc0\\u248{}ller, & Ninni, 2002)","plainCitation":"(Perrier, de Lope, Møller, & Ninni, 2002)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":564,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/CSZCRSB3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/CSZCRSB3"],"itemData":{"id":564,"type":"article-journal","title":"Structural coloration and sexual selection in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica","container-title":"Behavioral Ecology","page":"728-736","volume":"13","issue":"6","source":"academic.oup.com","abstract":"Abstract. Structural coloration has been hypothesized to play a role in sexual\n \nselection, and we tested whether this was the case in a field study of the\n \nb","DOI":"10.1093/beheco/13.6.728","ISSN":"1045-2249","journalAbbreviation":"Behav Ecol","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Perrier","given":"Claire"},{"family":"Lope","given":"Florentino","non-dropping-particle":"de"},{"family":"Møller","given":"Anders P."},{"family":"Ninni","given":"Paola"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002",11,1]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Perrier, de Lope, Møller, & Ninni, 2002).

Swallows are protected under the law which means that once these birds lay eggs or hatch their chicken, any population cannot harm them or displace them although it is legal to prevent these birds from building nests but is very challenging because they can do everything in their control to keep you away from their nests. The fact that these birds build their nests close to humans is due to protect themselves from crows and other predators. Frequent interaction with humans keeps them safe therefore they prefer to build nests in such areas. Now the conflict occurs when these nests that are close to humans have droppings and other deposits that fall on humans or their living area that not only cause diseases but also the cleaning procedure is quite hard. Normally when the swallows first hatch, then it is the parents who eat their dropping which helps to keep the nests fresh and insects-free. Then a few days later adult birds take the droppings away from the nests to prevent any kind of detection from the predators. So to solve this problem and also to avoid confrontation with these birds it is easy to place newspaper or any same material to accumulate the droppings to solve the problem. Once enough droppings re accumulated the paper along with the droppings can be buried in the ground because the droppings are an excellent source of fertilizers or they can also be thrown in the garbage. Similarly, to protect the car one can cover them with a blanket or any other sheet and it can be moved when needed ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"xjyA3Cba","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Fakhar et al., 2018)","plainCitation":"(Fakhar et al., 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":567,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/MBE9BHQS"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/MBE9BHQS"],"itemData":{"id":567,"type":"article-journal","title":"Intestinal parasites among migrant barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) in the central region of Mazandaran Province, Northern Iran","container-title":"Veterinary World","page":"1179-1182","volume":"11","issue":"8","source":"PubMed Central","abstract":"Aim:\nSwallows are a family of migratory birds found worldwide except Antarctica. Annually, a number of species of swallows migrate to Iran. As they make their nests close to human living places, this may be a potential risk for public health. Conversely, no study has been conducted on intestinal parasitic infections of these birds so far. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in migratory swallows (Hirundo rustica) in the central region of Mazandaran Province, Northern Iran.\n\nMaterials and Methods:\nIn this cross-sectional study, 205 feces samples from two districts (Sari and Qaemshahr) in the central region of Mazandaran were randomly collected during the summer and spring sessions of 2016-2017. The collected samples were examined using the routine direct fecal examination and formalin-ethyl acetate concentration. In addition, the samples were examined by cold acid-fast staining method to detect possible Cryptosporidium oocysts.\n\nResults:\nThe results of this study indicated that 38 samples (18.5%) were infected with intestinal parasites. Among the helminthic parasites, eight genera and species were identified as follows: Ascaridia galli, Syngamus trachea, Raillietina, Toxocara spp., Choanotaenia, Taenia spp., Ascaridia spp., and Moniezia spp. In addition, among protozoan parasites, only the Coccidia spp. oocysts were identified.\n\nConclusion:\nOur findings showed a relatively high prevalence of parasitic infections in migratory barn swallows in Mazandaran Province. Given the presence of zoonotic parasites in the samples, further investigations are needed to identify all parasites fauna, particularly zoonotic species among swallows in the region.","DOI":"10.14202/vetworld.2018.1179-1182","ISSN":"0972-8988","note":"PMID: 30250381\nPMCID: PMC6141299","journalAbbreviation":"Vet World","author":[{"family":"Fakhar","given":"Mahdi"},{"family":"Chegeni","given":"Tooran Nayeri"},{"family":"Bastani","given":"Reza"},{"family":"Hosseininejad","given":"Zahra"},{"family":"Saberi","given":"Reza"},{"family":"Armat","given":"Saber"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018",8]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Fakhar et al., 2018).

Alternatively, boards are also installed below the nest to hold the feces and other such remains. In this case, the boards are quite near to the nest; therefore, they should be cleaned to avoid any sort of insect infestation and bugs that may accumulate in the debris. But before doing that, also notice the coming and going of the Swallows to stop installing something that could restrict their access to the nest. Another effective way to prevent these birds from building nests in your home is to remove 90 degree or less of the vertical surfaces Swallows prefer, creating a surface that these birds do not prefer to build their nests. In this way, they will choose other sites like bridges or any other trees or bulging surfaces to build their nests, and they will not come in contact with the humans unnecessarily. These changes in the surfaces can be temporary or it can permanent but the main purpose if the blockage of any surface that provide the base for the construction of nests. The fact is that these birds choose our residential area because humans have destroyed almost all their natural habitat, so they have no option left than coming close to our places. So encouraging our communities to build bridges that provide necessary nesting sites for these birds ensure that when you discourage them from nesting in your homes, they will ultimately choose these sites and in this way, both humans and these birds can live peacefully. Besides that, under-construction buildings should also be provided for the building of nests. Also by creating boxes for them can also help them to stay away from humans ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Wc2Ma9QX","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}Swallow Congregations: Dealing with a Common Problems,\\uc0\\u8221{} n.d.)","plainCitation":"(“Swallow Congregations: Dealing with a Common Problems,” n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":571,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/3DRZIWYC"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/3DRZIWYC"],"itemData":{"id":571,"type":"article-journal","title":"Swallow Congregations: Dealing with a Common Problems","page":"6","source":"Zotero","language":"en"}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“Swallow Congregations: Dealing with a Common Problems,” n.d.).

Although these birds are creating problems for humans by building their nests around their houses, there are so many ways through which both can live in harmony without getting disturbed. It is also noteworthy that the population of the Swallows has rapidly decreased and the conservationists and other experts have noticed that these birds are now not migrating at the same rate than before which shows that they are also declining. So effective measurements should be taken for the conservation of these birds and then provide proper measures for building their nests in such a way that both live in peace.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Fakhar, M., Chegeni, T. N., Bastani, R., Hosseininejad, Z., Saberi, R., & Armat, S. (2018). Intestinal parasites among migrant barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) in the central region of Mazandaran Province, Northern Iran. Veterinary World, 11(8), 1179–1182. https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2018.1179-1182

Perrier, C., de Lope, F., Møller, A. P., & Ninni, P. (2002). Structural coloration and sexual selection in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica. Behavioral Ecology, 13(6), 728–736. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/13.6.728

Swallow Congregations: Dealing with Common Problems. (n.d.), 6.