Having recently built a small barn at our Haverhill home to attract nesting Barn Swallows among other purposes, I have been following that species more closely over the last year or so.  Thanks to Haverhill's expanses of rich river floodplain soils, it is perhaps the most agricultural community in New Hampshire, and during summer I commute regularly past and through many farms along the River valley between Haverhill and Hanover.  I am not seeing many Barn Swallows, noticeably less than in years past.  

                Betsy Janeway's article in the NH Breeding Bird Atlas notes declines in Barn Swallow populations over the years which is attributed to diminishing summer habitat, less agriculture and fewer and tighter barns.   That means that appropriate barns should be even more in demand.  In my recent commutes along Routes 5 and 10 and River Road, however, the barns seem quiet and the wires devoid of Barn Swallows.  The one barn at which I have found them recently is Four Corners Farm in South Newbury and our friend Kim Gray there tells us that their colony seems to be "petering out" with numbers much reduced over the past few years.     

                It would appear that causes of Barn Swallow decline may lie in their winter habitat and/or migration hazards in between.  Has anyone else out there sensed this decline of Barn Swallows in appropriate summer habitat?  And does anyone know of relevant research on the subject?

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