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Discover strategies on how to attract Swallows to new locations using audio, mud sources, and artificial nests, with varying levels of success.
The Cliff Swallow is one of the most social land birds of North America. These birds typically nest in large colonies, and a single site may contain up to 6,000 active nests.
Habitat Requirements: Nesting: Cliff Swallows nest in colonies. Once they select a breeding area, Cliff Swallows gather mud pellets to build their nests, adhering pellets to a cliff or other vertical surface, such as the external facade of a building. Commonly used structures include houses, barns, rectangular culverts, and trusses beneath bridges.
Cliff swallow breeding habitat includes canyons, hills, valleys, and cliff faces. Man-made buildings and structures also provide shelter for nesting areas; any areas that have buildings or bridges serve as possible nesting sites, expanding their breeding areas to grasslands and towns.
Learn about the Cliff Swallow, a swallow species that is declining in northeastern North America. Learn about these birds’ nesting requirements and ongoing conservation efforts on their behalf.
Explore Swallow Conservation's wildlife conservation projects, specifically their conservation efforts to increase and improve nesting opportunities for declining Cliff Swallow populations.
Cliff Swallow. Adult. Photo: Becky Matsubara/Flickr (CC BY-2.0) At a Glance. This swallow is probably far more common today than when the Pilgrims landed. Originally it built its jug-shaped mud nests on the sides of cliffs.
