{"id":15032,"date":"2014-05-23T04:27:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T10:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15032"},"modified":"2025-03-29T08:49:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T13:49:14","slug":"nesting-cliff-swallows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/23\/nesting-cliff-swallows\/","title":{"rendered":"Nesting Cliff Swallows"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CliffCliff Swallows nesting – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/200, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday at East Canyon State Park<\/a><\/span> in Morgan County I was able to photograph nesting Cliff Swallows on a cliff face that overlooks the reservoir. Some of the nests were completed and some were still being built. Cliff Swallows are social birds and they usually nest in colonies on natural and man made structures like bridges, overpasses, culverts and under the eaves of buildings.<\/p>\n

After selecting a colony location both the male and the female gather mud pellets to build their gourd shaped nest that may consist of up to 1,200 individual mud pellets. Female Cliff Swallows lay eggs in their own nests and at times in a neighboring nest and occasionally the female will lay the egg in her own nest then carry the egg in her bill to a neighboring nest.<\/p>\n

\"CliffAdult Cliff Swallow at Bear River\u00a0Migratory Bird Refuge – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 400, +0.3, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cliff Swallows are common throughout Utah and are listed as a species of least concern but humans do have an impact on them through the use of pesticides because small\u00a0flying insects are their main source of food.<\/p>\n

The Cliff Swallows I photographed at East Canon State Park yesterday skim over the reservoir\u00a0in search of prey. It will be a few weeks before the first fledglings start to leave their nests and join the adults on the wing.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/span> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Cliff Swallow photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Barn Swallow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday at East Canyon State Park in Morgan County I was able to photograph nesting Cliff Swallows on a cliff face that overlooks the reservoir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,489,6874,26],"tags":[4004,2420,3466,4069,3976,4182,4450,4998,641,4807,3470,4176],"class_list":["post-15032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-cliff-swallows","category-east-canyon-state-park","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-cliff-swallow","tag-cliffs","tag-mountains","tag-nesting","tag-nesting-material","tag-nesting-season","tag-nests","tag-petrochelidon-pyrrhonota","tag-swallow","tag-swallows","tag-wasatch-mountains"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-nests-mia-mcpherson-8130.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3Us","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37463,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/26\/cliff-swallow-nesting-season-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":15032,"position":0},"title":"Cliff Swallow Nesting Season at Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"More of the swallows will migrate to the refuge very soon and the Cliff Swallow nesting season will start.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bear River Cliff Swallow perched on phragmites, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":90704,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/23\/cliff-swallows-gathering-nesting-materials\/","url_meta":{"origin":15032,"position":1},"title":"Cliff Swallows Gathering Nesting Materials","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I photographed Cliff Swallows gathering nesting materials and fighting in bright morning light high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cliff Swallow adult gathering nesting material, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-8764.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-8764.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-8764.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-adult-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-8764.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100381,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/05\/swallow-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":15032,"position":2},"title":"Swallow Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I wanted to share swallow photos that show the six species of swallows I see and photograph in northern Utah while they are here for their nesting season.","rel":"","context":"In "Bank Swallows"","block_context":{"text":"Bank Swallows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/swallows\/bank-swallows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Violet-green Swallow adult back view, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/violet-green-swallow-male-back-view-mia-mcpherson-1622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/violet-green-swallow-male-back-view-mia-mcpherson-1622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Barn Swallow photo bomb, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-swallow-puddle-mia-mcpherson-1471.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-swallow-puddle-mia-mcpherson-1471.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-swallow-puddle-mia-mcpherson-1471.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-swallow-puddle-mia-mcpherson-1471.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the weekend, I read on Facebook that Tree Swallows have migrated back into Northern Utah for their breeding season. I am so excited about that news!","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tree Swallow peeking out of a natural nesting cavity in the High Uintas, Uinta Mountains, Uinta National Forest, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-aspen-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6727.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-aspen-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6727.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-aspen-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6727.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tree-swallow-aspen-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6727.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}