Barn Swallow
Nest Cam

Several barn swallow nests are being videotaped for varying lengths of time. All are in artificial nests. At two nests, the camera was placed directly over the nest through a hole in the floor above the nest. Other nests are viewed from the side.

Check the 2004 trial study of the weather cam and quad processor at the bottom of this page

The following still photos are taken from a single frame of video from the 6 hr vhs tapes. This process results in a substantial loss of quality compared to the original camera image and vhs tape.

2001 Barn Swallow Nest Cams

ARTIFICIAL NEST "R"

6/12/2001
6/16/2001
6/19/2001
6/22/2001
6/25/2001
6/28/2001

6/15/2001
6/17/2001
6/20/2001
6/23/2001
6/26/2001
6/29/2001

6/16/2001
6/18/2001
6/21/2001
6/24/2001
6/27/2001

ARTIFICIAL NEST "L"

6/1/2001
6/4/2001
6/6/2001
6/7/2001

6/2/2001
6/5/2001
6/6/2001
6/8/2001

6/3/2001
6/6/2001
6/6/2001

ARTIFICIAL NEST "O"

5/28/2001
6/6/2001

5/28/2001
6/6/2001

5/28/2001
6/6/2001

ARTIFICIAL NEST "S"

6/10/2001
6/15/2001

6/11/2001
6/16/2001

6/12/2001
6/17/2001

2004 Barn Swallow Feeding Study

This was only a very preliminary look at equipment and methodology to compare barn swallow feeding visits to weather. In previous years, I had kept daily weather records, but realtime weather records superimposed on the swallow nest video would be much more informative. The very low tech weather cam consisted of the spinning cup mechanism from a broken anemometer, a large funnel to concentrate rain and drip on a movable flap, and a dial thermometer. This provided an accurate temperature reading and an estimate of wind speed and rain fall. The visual anemometer was quite sensitive and easy to see in the video. The rainfall indicator could be improved as far as visibility, especially in infrared lighting when used for bat video.

Barn swallows, being aerial insectivores, have difficulty catching enough insects to feed their young during bad weather. The effect of prolonged severe weather is demonstrated by nesting failures. But, frequent brief bouts of cold wet weather may also have an effect on nestling growth and fledging success. Monitoring the number of feeding visits at up to three same age nests as well as current weather conditions can be done by using a quad processor and vcr. I review the tapes in fast forward, sometimes watching only one nest at a time, since some feeding visits are of such short duration that they may be missed if trying to monitor all three quadrants of the screen simultaneously. Another option is to review the tape in realtime and watch all 3 nests at once, pausing the tape whenever necessary to enter data. Old fashioned hand counters are useful for tallying feeding visits without taking your eyes off the screen. Blood cell counters allow entering separate totals for each nest.

The weather cam

closeup of the weather cam

quad view - feeding visit at lower left.

quad cam - feeding visit at lower right.

flicker vs starling battles	barn swallow artificial nest cups
buy a flicker box	the flicker drum
the flicker nest box	the sliding hole cover trap
nest box video 2001-2008	video nest box cams for sale
Observations and studies using nest box camera	starling and house sparrow traps
2005 brown thrasher nest cam	2005 purple martin gourd cam
2004 Carolina wren nest cam	2004 European starling nest cam
2004 gray squirrel nest cam	2006 polygamous barn owl nest cam
2003 barn owl nest cam	2001 American Kestrel nest box cam
2002 American Kestrel nest box cam	2001 Yellow Shafted Flicker nest box cam
2002 Yellow Shafted Flicker nest box cam	2005 Yellow Shafted Flicker nest box cam
Eastern Bluebird nest box cam	Tree Swallow nest box cam
Carolina Chickadee nest box cam	house wren nest cam
Barn Swallow nest cam	Chimney Swift nest cam
Attracting barn swallows	other nestboxes in use
Entire site index Please check here if you can't find something	email to Richard & Diane
American Artifacts articles	American Artifacts catalog

Species Profiles - members of our home habitat

barn owl	American kestrel	purple martin	barn swallow	Eastern bluebird
tufted titmouse	Eastern phoebe	yellow shafted flicker	tree swallow	chimney swift
house wren	big brown bat	Carolina wren	brown thrasher	catbird
Eastern wood-pewee		.	.	.