Does anyone know anything about Barn Swallows?

Question

I have a Barn Swallow nest under my carport. It has been there since the spring, but I think they have just had thier first batch of nestlings. I have decided not to park my car completely under the carport to give the birds some space, as well as to keep any of the cats that roam my neighborhood from using my vehicle as a way to get to the nest. Yesterday one of the nestlings was on the hood of my car dead....The eyes weren't open yet and there were very few feathers. I know it didn't fall all the way over there, and there were no footprints on my hood to indicate a cat may have put it up there. Will the adults remove any of the nestlings from the nest if they die.....or if they have some other problem? Or does anyone else have any ideas on what could have happend? I am thinking the whole survival of the fittest, but how did it get on the hood of my car?

These were all really great answers! Thank you so much!

Answer 1

Just in case you need help with them - these sites explain all about what to do for orphan and injured birds -
http://www.crowsystems.com/rehab/babybird.html - this is an excellent article - be sure to read down the entire page for info on how to care.
http://www.stokesbirdsathome.com/q&a/archive/qa108.html
http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-happened-when-nestling-fell-out.html
http://www.projectwildlife.org/find-babysongbirds.htm
And these Yahoo Answers too -
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aq1GdvtmX27UJrgshR77Jersy6IX?qid=20060711181307AAZ59uh
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=1006050608886

I've got a lot of links to wildlife carers from a lot of countries on my site, at
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/links under "Wildlife Assistance" - just click on them all, click on your country and state, have a browse, 'phone them and ask their advice.

Answer 2

It was probably removed from the nest by the parents because it was not growing properly. Either that, or else another bird, such as a blue jay, tried to raid the nest and the hatchling fell out. This may be their second batch of babies - most species have several batches each year.

Answer 3

This might explain it. Poor footing on the part of the bird...

Fecal sacs are eaten by the parents for the first day or so and then carried off, but, by day 15, the nestlings begin to back up to the edge of the nest and defecate over the edge.

Here's a great article on Barn Swallows:
http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/per/b4.htm

Answer 4

Yes the parents will kick out the dead babies and if they are not doing well they will remove them from the nest.
I have barn swallows all over here. I have found about 6-7 dead babies this year. But i have about 5 nests and they are on the second or third batch of babies this year.

Answer 5

I'm sitting her watching a BUNCH of them in two different buildings. You can safely put your car in the carport, no problem. There is farm machinery in these buildings and we move the machinery in and out all the time. They'll have plenty of room. They are incredible flyers and fun to watch if you have multiple nests. A cat probably would have carried the little thing off.

Answer 6

If the baby was sick or had already died, it is possible that the parents kicked it out of the nest. They know if the baby isn't going to survive. That way they can conscentrate on feeding and caring for the remaining young.
Don't know how it got on your hood though. Sorry.

Answer 7

the parents removed the dead hatchling from the nest. if the was attacked by a cat of other bird you would know

Answer 8

yep, the parent birds will get rid of any dead ones like that. I found 2 on my pool cover this summer, and there are no nests anywhere near the pool.