Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Breeding Range. (Fig. 110). Common in the Turtle Mountains, in the Agassiz Lake Plain Region, on the Northeastern and Southern Drift Plains, and in the southern half of the Missouri Coteau; fairly common on the Northwestern Drift Plain, in the northwestern half of the Missouri Coteau, and on the Coteau Slope and Missouri Slope; uncommon on the Little Missouri Slope.
Throughout its range, this species normally occurs in colonies that range in size from a half dozen pairs to 150 pairs or more.
Breeding Habitat. Occurs in the vicinity of vertical banks along streams, ponds, and lakes, or in the vicinity of vertical sides of road cuts, gravel pits, and building construction ground pits; and ranges over adjoining open-country habitats, including grasslands, croplands, and wetlands.
Nesting. Breeding season: Late May to mid-August; peak, early June to late July. Extreme dates of active breeding colonies (84 colonies): May 20 [1972] in Richland County to August 18 [1960] in Stutsman County (RES). Extreme egg dates (10 nests): June 5 [1915] in Richland County (V. Bailey) to July 5 [1901] in Nelson County (Bishop egg collection catalog, Peabody Museum). Nestlings were recorded as early as June 23 [1970] in Grand Forks County and as late as August 18 [1960] in Stutsman County (RES).
The horizontal nesting burrows were commonly excavated in sandy soil of vertical, eroded banks along streams, and in vertical sides of road cuts, gravel pits, and ground pits prepared for building construction. Rolfe (1898b) even found that the burrows of one colony in Benson County had been excavated in the perpendicular wall of a dry, abandoned well. The burrows of most colonies were found in banks or vertical sides of pits that were at least 6 feet high. However, occasional small colonies were found to utilize banks as low as 3 1/2 feet in height.
Two nesting tunnels, measured in Nelson and Eddy Counties, were found to extend about 2 feet from the entrance to nesting compartments (Bishop egg collection catalog, Peabody Museum). Single tunnels of colonies in Richland and Grand Forks Counties were 14 and 18 inches long, respectively (R. Kellogg).
Indicated clutch size (6 nests): 4 to 7 eggs; mean, 5.3 eggs.
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| Figure 110. Breeding Range of Bank Swallow. |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bbofnd/species/6160.htm
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