photos/video: Laura Corsiglia
Just about all of us were born into the world of the swallows’ return to Capistrano as a symbol of the return of hope. Such small birds carrying all our dreams of love and our need for renewal and even redemption. We know of this return before we even know what swallows are, it seems. And then you meet swallows: Barn Swallows, Cliff Swallows, Tree Swallows, Bank Swallows, even Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and of course, Violet-green Swallows. Most wildlife rehabilitators begin this profession as a volunteer. Many of us learn these birds up close, as care providers before we really know who they are when they are free. But for all of us no matter when we begin to learn Swallows and find them in the air and in nests, our society has us prepared for their glory.
The swallows referred to in the song are the Cliff Swallows who migrate from Argentina to San Juan Capistrano in southern California, arriving right at the beginning of Spring. here in Humboldt, they arrive a short while later, repairing old nests, building new ones.
Over the last 14 years the first Cliff Swallow nestlings we admit each year (we’ve admitted 128 since 2012, which is as far back as our digital records go*) have come in between the second week of June and the first week of July – the number one cause for admittance is nest destruction. The mud nests are often destroyed by people who don’t want them on their buildings, or who find the birds to be some kind of bother, it happens accidentally, and sometimes it’s just an act of nature. Of course their nests are protected by law and international treaty, but once the nest is down it’s down. At that point, the best that can happen is that somehow surviving babies are brought to us.
Although they usually are, Cliff Swallows weren’t our first swallow babies of the 2026 though! That distinction belongs to a pair of Barn Swallow nestlings who fell to the ground in a horse barn in Ferndale. They came in May 25 – which incidentally is a full month earlier than we’ve ever admitted a nestling Barn Swallow. In fact, the same trend is holding true for our other swallow species in care. Nestling Cliff Swallows and Violet-green Swallows we’re treating began coming in three weeks earlier than has been the norm.
No matter though – even if climate chaos totally disrupts the breeding season, there will be a breeding season of some sort as long as the Earth still supports life such as we share with the Swallows. And we will be here for it as long as the Earth still supports our efforts. You know, as long as we can get goat milk, eggs and zucchini or some such suitable substitute as needed.
Speaking of resources, Swallow babies in care eat a lot of mealworms. As it turns out, tariffs and other financial obstacles to the mealworm supplier in Southern California we’ve used for the last 15 years have really made things difficult for them, which has caused us to seek other outlets- including locally when necessary, which is significantly more costly. At last we’ve secured another vendor, who produces quality insects and ships them quickly and with excellent survival rate! But the cost is twice what we’re accustomed to…
In any case, these are the tribulations of caring for these purely magical birds. I am not speaking hyperbolically or figuratively. One steps into an aviary of Swallows to provide some aspect of care as one steps into any arena of grace. The arc of the line of their wing, the arc of the path they fly, the swirl of aviatrixes and aviators in the morning marine layer agitated and also ready for breakfast – in the moment they consent to snatch a worm from the hemostats I’m holding high as they fly by. Indeed it is a tragedy that provides this proximity I have to these birds, – and I wish they were home getting moths by the minute from ma and pa Swallow, but they are here and so am I and in these moments I lean very hard into the grace they provide – whether it is deserved or not. I catch them all up in the morning for weight checks and other treatments and put them in boxes and I spray all of the poop back into the Earth.
You cannot find redemption in good deeds. I think that gets covered plenty in the literature and the songbook of Johnny Cash. These swallows aren’t giving this away anyway. “Redemption schmedemption, nobody is a coupon,” says every swallow everywhere. It’s their beauty that we can have for free. So far so good, right? – because we don’t need redemption. We need beauty. Nothing but beauty can bind us to our place here, – not online, not on Mars – here, in the unprecedented, where none of us have really ever done it before. Yet each day we rely on the evidence found in the lengthening record and our own sense of what ought and ought not be to guide us. What else can we do?
According to records we still have many swallows to go before this season ends. We are in the very heart of it now. In the past, most Barn Swallow babies we’ve admitted have been from late July through August. We cannot predict the future, still preparedness must include the probable and routine as well as the urgent yet more rare. Sourcing mealworms continues!
As always, it is your support that keeps us going. Your support is the most needed ingredient, even in, especially in, these difficult financial times. I can tell you that at this time of year, when we go through 20,000 mealworms a week and each 20,000 costs $300 and that’s just for these guys. We’ve had a daily caseload of 60-80 patients since the middle of April. We need your support as they say, now more than ever. And truly, thank you for keeping us here, keeping our lights on. We work hard for our patients’ wellbeing and we do it on your behalf.
NOW MORE THAN EVER!
please
DONATE
* As of this writing we’ve admitted 641 Swallow babies since Spring 2012: 329 Barn Swallows, 184 Violet-green Swallows, 128 Cliff Swallows.
