06/10/2026
Watch a Barn Swallow work a meadow on a summer evening and you'll understand why people fall in love with them. They sweep low over the grass, bank hard, skim the surface of a pond — catching insects mid-air with impossible precision. It is one of the great free performances in Maine's natural world.
And it is becoming increasingly rare.
Barn Swallows, Bank Swallows, Cliff Swallows, Tree Swallows — these birds belong to a group called aerial insectivores, and across North America they are in steep decline. In Maine, the situation is particularly urgent. Maine's Breeding Bird Atlas documents that Bank Swallows and Cliff Swallows have each lost roughly half of their historic breeding range in our state. Both are now listed as Threatened. Every other swallow species here carries a designation of Special Concern.
These aren't rare birds found in remote corners of Maine. These are the swallows nesting under bridges you cross every day, in the riverbanks along roads you drive every week. Their absence, when it comes, will be felt.
The causes are complex — flying insect populations are crashing due to pesticide use and habitat loss; nesting sites along riverbanks and on old barns are disappearing. But there are real things you can do:
🐤 Reduce or eliminate pesticide use — every insect is food
🐤 Protect wetlands and open foraging habitat
🐤 Leave active nests alone and in place (removing them is a federal crime under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act)
🐤 Keep barns accessible where swallows are nesting
🐤 Install Tree Swallow nest boxes
🐤 Keep cats indoors and dogs on leash during nesting season — ground-nesting aerial insectivores like Whippoorwills are especially vulnerable
Wildlife rehabilitation can't reverse the broad forces driving these declines. But when an injured swallow, flycatcher, or swift reaches us — birds that have already beaten difficult odds — we give them the best possible chance to return to the wild and contribute to the populations that remain.
That work depends on your support. If the story of Maine's aerial insectivores moves you, please consider making a gift today: avianhaven.org/donate
We have volunteers across the state ready to bring birds to us. To report an injured bird, call (207)382-6761.
