Where have all the swallows gone?

[Mary Kay Waddington]

Arapahoe County.  

From my records I should have had a few Tree Swallows about a month ago.  The Northern Rough-wings should have arrived a week ago and been looking for nest sites in the creek bank.  Violet-greens and Barns should be flying by every evening.  Nada. Not one swallow has shown up.

Where have all the Swallows gone?  Long time passing.

Where have all the Warblers gone?  Long time ago.

Where have all flycatchers gone?

Lack of insects every one.

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Mary Kay Waddington

[Ira Sanders]

Remember the migration after the fires when millions of birds died? Many in NM? A lot of them were swallows.

Ira Sanders

Golden (for another day)

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Ira Sanders

Golden, CO

"My mind is a raging torrent flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." Blazing Saddles

[Kirstin C.]

There are a lot of tree swallows at Tucker Lake in Arvada.  They showed up about a month ago.

Kirstin Chapman

Arvada, Jefferson County

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 26, 2026, at 2:24 PM, Ira Sanders <zroadr...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[T. Luke George]

Studies of many dead birds in NM showed that many of the aerial insectivores were emaciated. That is more consistent with the hypothesis that the birds died because of the inability to feed on aerial insects due to the early snow storm that passed through just prior to that, not due to the smoke from fires.

Luke George

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​T. Luke George, PhD

Master Instructor, ​Colorado ​State University

Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology

Wagar 110

P​rofessor Emeritus, Humboldt State University

707-499-4053 (c)

t.luke...@gmail.com

"what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver

[Paula Hansley]

I saw a large (50-60 birds) flock of swallows at Sawhill Ponds in Boulder County last week.  They were swirling low over ponds #11 and #4.  All common swallow species were represented except Cliff Swallow, although I may have missed it because the birds were swirling around so quickly.

It was exciting to watch them but very difficult to observe them because they were at eye level, swooping around me so I felt like I was part of the flock!  They were there for about 5 minutes and then “poof”, they were gone….

Paula Hansley

Louisville 

On Sun, Apr 26, 2026 at 7:31 AM Mary Kay Waddington <waddin...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Susan Rosine]

I think to be that emaciated, they had to have been struggling before the storm, and the storm was just the last straw. Fires destroy insects, climate change destroys insects, insecticides - ditto. I think they were already struggling that year. The insect population has been decreasing for awhile now 

Just my two cents, but since we don't make pennies anymore, that's my nickel's worth.

Susan Rosine 

Brighton 

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[SeEttaM]

Adding to Susan Rosine's comments is this report from National Audubon on the mass die off:  "The findings released this month by the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center ruled out poisoning, disease, and parasites as causes of death. Instead, lab scientists found one major commonality among nearly all the dead birds: severe starvation. The carcasses shared signs of malnourishment, including empty stomachs, depleted fat stores, dehydration, and emaciation. But while it’s clear that hunger played a big part in the die-off, that's not the whole story.

One probable cause of the birds’ starvation was a severe drought in the region over the summer and into fall which made food and water scarce...."

https://www.audubon.org/news/study-starvation-and-freak-snow-storm-caused-southwests-mass-bird-die

SeEtta Moss 

Canon City, CO

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