Barn Swallow: Nest & eggs

The Barn Swallow builds its characteristic mud nest indoors and is therefore wholly dependent on accessible buildings in the countryside.

• Nest site: a half-open, cup-shaped nest fixed to a beam or wall inside barns, stables and garages, usually 1–5 metres up.
• Material: pellets of saliva-coated mud mixed with grass stems, lined with feathers to form a soft inner cup.
• Reuse: the same nest is used and added to year after year, and the species is strongly attached to its home farm.

You can attract the Barn Swallow by keeping barn and stable doors open and, ideally, putting up a simple shelf to support nest-building.

More about the Barn Swallow

• Song & calls
• Breeding
• Diet
• In winter