Barn Owls, Swallows, and Haymows

Across the Fence #336

Another page in the changing world we live in involves barn owls and barn swallows. I’ve seen lots of barn swallows, but can’t remember seeing a barn owl in a barn. We had an abundance of pigeons roosting in the haymow of our barn, but never an owl. If they were around, they were certainly good at concealing themselves.

We were discussing the demise of old barns with some friends this week, and we wondered how this would impact the birds that used to make their homes in barns.

Barn owls will make their nests in hollow trees and birdhouses made especially for barn owls. You can buy pre-built houses or build one yourself. I noticed when I looked up the subject on the Internet, they also have houses for screech owls. I know we have them around, because we had one in our house when we were building it. We managed to capture it and released it unharmed. We now have a photo of that owl hanging near the peak of our four-season room, where he was sitting on the exposed rafters at the time. I think I’ll have to build a house for a screech owl and see if I get any renters.

Even though we don’t have an old barn near our house, we have plenty of barn swallows. When I mow the yard in the summertime, they constantly fly around the mower and dive bomb for moths, mosquitoes, and other insects kicked out of the grass as the mower approaches. Sometimes they come so close, I think they’re going to collide with me. I’ve seen dozens of them at a time around our house. They must build their nests in nearby structures.

When the old timber frame barn was still standing, there were several nests attached to the rafters in the ceiling. The top half of the double doors were always open in the summer and swallows had easy access to their nests. It was always fun to watch how they built the nests and then follow the progress of the eggs being laid, the feeding of the babies, and then learning to fly. Each spring swallows would return to the existing nests and I wondered if it was the same birds that returned or maybe one of the chicks that had been born and raised in that nest, returning home and becoming the new renter.

Even though barns are filled with hungry cats that would love to have a bird for lunch, the swallows weren’t sleeping when brains were assigned. They attach their nests to the sides of support beams right under the floor of the haymow. It’s safe and dry. Barn swallows are pretty darn smart. I always wondered how the little babies knew enough to stay in the nest and not start crawling around and fall out. It must have been very frustrating for the cats to sit under those nests and watch the birds flying in and out and not be able to do anything about it.

I mentioned the pigeons that occupied the haymow. Our old barn had a cupola on the roof. The pigeons could access it from inside the haymow. That’s where they had their nests and raised their young. When the haymow was full of bales, we could climb up into the cupola and see where the nests had been. In the spring when the haymow was almost empty, the only way to get up to the cupola was to climb up the hay rope. I did it one time, but found it was really a stupid thing to do. It was much higher when there was very little hay below you, and scary. I clung to that rope like my life depended on it, and it probably did. We’re lucky we didn’t fall and kill ourselves. I think those swallows living in the barn below me, had more brains and smarts than I did.

We also used that same hay rope to swing on. We’d climb up and stand on a crossbeam, take the rope in hand, launch ourselves out, and then let go and hopefully land in the loose hay we had piled up. We didn’t have a rope attached to a tree where we could swing over a body of water and then launch into the water. The haymow was our substitute, and I suspect the landings were much more painful. Unless you timed your release just right, you missed the middle of the pile. If there was a barn owl hiding somewhere in our haymow, he must have been shaking his head over our attempts at flight. At least it makes me feel better, knowing that many of you did those same exciting, but stupid things, in the haymow.

Now most haymows stand empty. Modern methods of putting up hay have changed and it would be hard for a kid to find a hay rope to swing from. Maybe that’s a good thing. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but most of us survived with minor injuries and lots of harrowing adventures to tell about.

Just as the barn owls and barn swallows have to adapt to the changing times and fewer barns, I have faith that young kids will still find new adventures to test themselves, and many memories to tell the next generation.