Barn swallows rescued from nest on fishing boat now fly free

Four young barn swallows have found a new home in a P.E.I. barn, after being born in a nest on top of a fishing boat in Tignish Harbour.

The nestlings were discovered by researchers with the Island Nature Trust, who were doing a survey of fishing harbours looking for barn swallows, which are a species at risk. 

"We noticed there was a pair of barn swallows flying around and they were acting pretty territorial," said Leanne Tol, farmland birds co-ordinator with Island Nature Trust.

"We looked at some of the buildings nearby but we couldn't notice any sign of a nest around where we would expect there to be a barn swallow nest."

A couple of locals pointed them in the right direction —one of the fishing boats, tied up at the wharf. 

"They pointed to the boat and we were like, 'You mean the boat?' We almost didn't believe them at first," Tol said. 

"We looked and sure enough there was a barn swallow nest."

Running out of time

Lobster fisherman Ivan Gaudet said the swallows started building the nest on the Cat's Paw after the end of the spring lobster season.

But with the start of the fall lobster season getting closer, there were concerns that the chicks would not be ready to leave the nest before the boat would be back in operation. 

"They would probably still be relying on their parents for food," Tol said. 

"And it's very very unlikely that the swallow parents would be following the boat out to sea every day, so we were concerned about the survival of the young ones." 

The decision was made to build an artificial nest, hoping they could move the chicks and their parents to a safer location.

But moving the nest didn't work. 

"We just had to make the call at the end of the day, we were there from the morning until the afternoon and they weren't being fed," Tol said.

"So at one point we had to make the call to get them to the [Atlantic Veterinary College] wildlife centre and hope for the best."

The chicks arrived at the AVC on Aug. 8. 

"We were afraid that they were a little dehydrated so they were given fluid," said Fiep de Bie, wildlife technician with the AVC Wildlife Service.

"Then they started feeding right away, they started gaping for food so that was a really good sign." 

For vet students Joey Buzzell and Austin Ebbott, feeding the barn swallows became a full-time job. 

"We'd start at 6:30 or 7 in the morning and then go up until 9 at night, every 30 minutes," Ebbott said.

"Pretty much whenever they would start chirping at us and opening their mouths asking for food, we'd feed them."

Ready to fly

As the barn swallows grew, they were moved to a larger enclosure where they could learn to fly, and eat insects. 

"It was phenomenal, when they first came in they were naked, with some little pin feathers," Ebbott said.

"It was wonderful to see them grow, especially their colours coming out. That was really fun."

By Aug. 19, the young barn swallows were ready for their new home: a barn with a nest and other barn swallows almost ready to fledge.

The "boat swallows," as they called them, soon started flying in and out of the barn, joining their surrogate parents and new siblings.

"My favourite part was when they followed the parents out and we just saw them up in the sky doing phenomenal acrobatics," Ebbott said.

"Seeing them being in the wind and being able to handle themselves and fly was great. Really rewarding to see." 

"Before we knew it, our swallows were out with the parents, flying around and chirping," de Bie said.

 "It was very exciting."

Species at risk

Researchers from Island Nature Trust found barn swallows, sometimes multiple pairs, at 11 harbours around P.E.I.

"I think it's really good news because this is habitat that we may not have been focusing on before," Tol said. 

"If we know that they're using these harbours and are nesting successfully, the fishing community is now providing excellent habitat for a species at risk, which is pretty unique, I think."

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