Re: What do bank swallows do with the sand when they build their nest?

Bank swallows (also called sand martins) may use their beaks to dig out their nest cavities, but they don't eat the sand -- at least, not much of it. Their nest cavities can be as much as a meter long; that'd be a lot of bank to swallow! When bank swallows dig a new nest , they first attack the sand or dirt in the bank with their beak, pecking from side to side until they've dug out a shelf. Once they have a place to stand, they also work with their wings and feet to kick sand out of the burrow. Because the sand is loose after it's removed, it gets washed away by water or blown away by the wind, so big piles of sand don't usually collect under the nests. And bank swallows also reuse old nests if they can find them -- it means they don't have to work as hard that year! There are two reasons the swallows could be flying in circles out of their nests. They could be eating. Bank swallows eat insects, and often catch them in flight. And if it's the right time of the year, you could be seeing part of the male's courtship dance. "When the tunnel is about 30 cm long, he (the male swallow) attempts to attract a female. He performs an advertising display from the burrow in which he sings, ruffles the head and throat feathers, and vibrates his closed wings; when a female approaches he flies out, still singing. he also makes circling flights around the burrow, returning each time to the nest hole, calling and either landing or hovering by the entrance to lure the female in." (Turner and Rose 1989) References: Stoner, D. 1936. Studies on the Bank Swallow. Bull. NYS Coll. Forestry 9(2): 1-233. Turner, A. K. and C. Rose 1989. Swallows and Martins. Houghton Mifflin Co.: Boston. Diane A. Kelly