Cliff Swallows build their nests under the bridge near our home.

They form huge colonies which swoop and tweet as your ride under them.

I love watching their activities from below.

It is all new construction this year.  The old nests were cleared during bridge maintenance over the winter.

The Cliff Swallows carry mud pellets in their beaks and spit them onto the vertical surfaces.

The pair work together to construct a cup and close it in. The result looks like a jug on its side.

Each nest may have as many as one thousand pellets in it. That’s 500 pellets of mud and grass per bird.

Get some mud in your mouth, mix in some grass, fly to your chosen site, carefully spit out the pellet, repeat…

I am so glad I am not a Cliff Swallow.

Flow