Barn Swallows as Barometer
- Laura Wayte
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Barn swallows arrived at Deck Family Farm last week, a bit early after our mild winter, but just as they have every spring. They nest in every structure on the property — barn, equipment shed, house porches — building or reclaiming mud-cup nests on rafters and beams.
They are noisy and messy. The accumulation of droppings beneath active nests is a recurring maintenance issue, but the birds are kept out of any area where their presence would create food safety concerns. Everywhere else, they are left alone.
This is not sentiment. It is land management.
"I love the swallows and their spring-time return. It marks the beginning of the growing season in such a nice way," said Christine Deck, farm owner. "And it makes me feel like I am doing good when I hear about reports that swallow populations are struggling generally."
Deck Family Farm operates on regenerative principles, meaning the farm is run in a way that improves the surrounding environment rather than degrading it. The grazing rotation builds soil. The creek corridor is fenced off and left to revegetate — willow, sedge, native grasses holding the bank and filtering runoff. No herbicides, no insecticides. Trees are planted for habitat. Toxins that could harm native species are never used.
The result is a farm that functions as a working ecosystem. Bobcats move through. Coyotes use the creek corridor. Hawks hunt the fence lines. Herons prowl in the fields and creeks. And barn swallows find insects by swooping above the pastures, because the pastures are managed in a way that keeps insects in abundance.
Regional data shows barn swallow populations in decline but we are happy to report that isn't evident on our farm. The correlation is simple: aerial insectivores follow insects, insects require unsprayed habitat and living soil, and this farm maintains both.
If there are natural predators because of our practices, that means we need to pay attention and manage the animals accordingly.
"It is so completely worth it to us to make concessions in this area. I would hate to live on a farm that didn't feel natural and healthy," says Christine Deck.
Some of the big predators stay away just because regular human activity will scare them off. For other species we use techniques like guardian dogs and guardian geese protecting the chicken yard. Young pigs stay in a pole barn until they are large and fast enough to be safe on open pasture. A shepherd stays with the sheep during lambing. These are not romantic arrangements — they are the precautions that make it possible to raise livestock in a landscape that also supports predators, which is to say, a landscape that is functioning correctly.
The swallows fit inside this logic. They are a benefit — a growing season harbinger and significant consumers of flying insects throughout the grazing season. They will be here until August. Then they will leave. They will come back next March or April. Hopefully they find equally welcoming places to live during their migration.