All this talk about returning swallows reminds of a problem I've been
pondering. At our apartment building last year, a pair of barn swallows
built a nest in the car port. Late in the season, the landlord tore it
down (for the obvious reason). Fortunately, the young were old enough to
fly, and the whole family perched every night near the place where the
nest used to be - they seemed to have managed OK.

My question is, when they return this year, if I tear down the nest as
soon as they start to build, will this encourage them to build elsewhere?
I don't want the landlord to tear down the nest when the eggs have already
been laid.

I know barn swallows aren't exactly on the endangered list, but still, one
does get attached to them when you see them every day.

Jim Lady
Columbia Basin Research
University of Washington
jlady at u.washington.edu