Fly control

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I have never noticed the "swallows" ( we call them chimney swifts around here) flying around much during the day when the flies are out. They mostly fly at dusk and eat a TON of skeeters. On summer evenings we can sit out at the barn and watch them fly between our barn and the pond eating the mosquitos. Then just about dark they fly back to this old factory or mill ruins next door where they nest and roost. About the time they all get in, abut 10 minutes later the bats come out of the top. We can see them working on the skeeters when they fly around the security lights and if the moon is out, Between the bats and the chimney swifts, we are surprisingly just about mosquito free. For fly control I keep some traps and strips in and around the barn. And I put a handful of corn in the feed for the horses every night. This causes the chickens and guineas to scratch around and spread out the manure, so it dries out pretty quick, They also eat any maggots that are in the manure piles. This place is only about 13 acres, with 4-6 horses, ,and sometimes a few roping steers. @kenny thomas , are the chimney swifts you have flying at all parts of the day?
 
The chimney swift is a different bird than the barn swallows and tree swallows, although they are related. The swift is a dusk and dawn feeder for the most part. The swallows are day feeders notorious for following tractors with mowers or bush hogs. They really get serious as the swath of unmowed grass narrows and the assorted flying insects are concentrated.
I used to get swifts trapped in my wood stove each summer. I always tried to be careful and catch them to release unharmed. Seems like they are not as common as they once were.
 
Logan52 said:
The chimney swift is a different bird than the barn swallows and tree swallows, although they are related. The swift is a dusk and dawn feeder for the most part. The swallows are day feeders notorious for following tractors with mowers or bush hogs. They really get serious as the swath of unmowed grass narrows and the assorted flying insects are concentrated.
I used to get swifts trapped in my wood stove each summer. I always tried to be careful and catch them to release unharmed. Seems like they are not as common as they once were.
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Ok, thanks for that reply. I guess that's why I have only seen them at dusk, when the flies aren't out. They do an awesome job on the mosquitos, though. @Travlr, it has been a long time since I have seen any of the larks as well. I remember when I was a kid, you would see them all over the pastures, eating the maggots out of the cow turds. I wonder what happened to them?
 
Warren Allison said:
Ok, thanks for that reply. I guess that's why I have only seen them at dusk, when the flies aren't out. They do an awesome job on the mosquitos, though. @Travlr, it has been a long time since I have seen any of the larks as well. I remember when I was a kid, you would see them all over the pastures, eating the maggots out of the cow turds. I wonder what happened to them?
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What I understand is that the poison they are using on crops is killing everything. Less than half of what the poisons kill is the crop pests, so everything else is just collateral damage and it spreads to the rest of the environment.
 
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I can’t say whether or not the birds make a dent in flies but, ever little bit helps.
I’ve noticed that several Amish farms I’ve seen over the years grow those birdhouse gourds and have a bunch hanging on lines. Was at an Amish farm buying produce and saw a bunch of of birdhouse gourds that were laid out to dry. Asked if they were selling those, said no they were for the martins. A guy that was helping me at the time was there and asked the Amish fellow if there were Martins that lived around there, because he knew a Martin family back where we were from. The Amish didn’t see the humor in that he just said, no they’re for the birds.
They must serve a practical purpose, because I’m sure they don’t have them for decoration or birdwatching.
We have barn swallows that nest in the barns. They don’t bother me too bad, like the English sparrows and starling do. I appreciate the barn swallows eating mosquitoes.
I’ve learned something from this thread I’ve always thought of all those similar type birds as either barn swallows or martins. I’d not heard of tree swallows, but I reckon I’ve seen them.
They will fly around out amongst the cattle grazing and around where your driving through the field stirring up insects.
Late in the evenings the barn swallows will be flying around over ponds and in the yard around the barns getting mosquitoes.
They are entertaining too, I’ve seen them dive down at a cat cause it to almost flip.
 
Travlr said:
All the overpasses had a lot of swallows ten years ago and now they don't have near as many...
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Yeah, I used to see those nests under the bridges, etc. I guess I just assumed they were chimney swifts. I guess they look similar. But now that you mention it, I don't think I see as many as I used to ,either.
 
Putting up and maintaining marten houses is pretty popular with a lot of people, and certainly including the Amish around here. I've seen some extremely extravagant set ups with hundreds of pairs. I have a couple houses myself, always have. But thinking martens are going to have a noticeable affect on cattle fly populations is like hoping an umbrella will prevent a flood. They spend much more time working on gnats and mosquitos than flies. In fact, I've never seen them around the cows.
 
Exactly who is the guy that sits back and counts how many flies a swallow eats every day,?

When they get full, do they they then become the infamous 'laden swallow in flight'?
 
Barn Swallows build a shelf-like nest stuck on interior structures (like barns). Swallows that build gourd-like mud nests under highway overpasses are Cliff swallows. They are more aggressive and will throw out barn swallow eggs and babies and build their gourd like nest over it. This has set back the Barn Swallow population.

Barnies raise their babies, might have more than one nest full a year. Then the young birds fly with them to Argentina for the winter to learn the way. Then they fly back to where they were born. This explains the return of the famous Swallows of Capistrano, an old Spanish mission in California, where people gather and have a big party..
 
redcowsrule33 said:
I've watched bald faced hornets following the cows around and picking off flies. They are welcome here as long as they don't set up shop close to a door.
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I guess that's why I saw half a dozen of them flying around mine the other day. I was confused there were so many so close together since it wasn't all that close to their nest or bothering with the cows, but didn't think too much on it. Going after the flies would make sense.
 

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