Barn Swallow Sibs

The second brood of front-porch barn swallows has hatched and has become the avian equivalent of teenagers, meaning that they’re trying to simultaneously be completely free to do their own thing while expecting their parents to do all the important stuff for them. This has become increasingly difficult because, as far as I can tell, the parents have left for less stressful environs, leaving the two kids to fend for themselves.

That seems to be working well for them…except at night. They’re now too big to fit in the mud nest, but too timid to seek out different quarters, so they’re overnighting as close to “home” as possible, and trying to re-create the coziness of their younger days. Like so…

This is how I found them this morning around 5:30, huddled together on the quarter-inch ledge of the ceiling trim, about six feet away from the nest that will no longer accommodate them.

It’s a cruel world out there, and everybody needs a buddy. I wonder how long these siblings will stick together before nature pulls them in different directions?